Detecting the Truth
by KoiMei
Summary: Transfer student comes in the school and Neji doesn't like him at all...
1. Chapter 1: Waste of Time

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

*****A/N: This is Sasuke x Neji Fanfiction taking place in "Konoha High". (First-years) In other words, it's an alternate universe. For reference on how they look, I suggest looking for the ending where everyone was in high school. I plan on making Sasuke the 'seme' even though the 'uke' is in his name. Sorry, I always liked Sasuke topping!*****

Chapter 1: Waste of Time

The windows shook violently in Konoha High School. A typhoon was taking place and the students were forced to stay in school. Paper airplanes flew and pencils were flying everywhere. Neji rested his chin on his hand, facing the window. Though he was sitting in the middle of the classroom, he could see the window clearly with no problem. Though today, the rain blocked his viewing of the storm outside.

"Alright everybody settle down, I have an important announcement to make! Someone wake Shikamaru up, and Choji, it isn't breakfast anymore, stop eating."

Iruka sensei was a strict but kind teacher. He was only their homeroom teacher, but it wasn't too hard to gain everybody's respect. Neji looked up to the board as the teacher writes some name on the board.

"We have a new student transfer student today! Isn't that wonderful, everybody has a new friend! He will be coming shortly after some paper work, so please, be kind to him!" Iruka sensei explained.

_A new student huh, that's the second one this year. I bet he's another idiot like that Naruto kid._ Neji thought. A knock was heard from the door and everyone immediately stopped whispering to each other. "Come in!" Iruka sensei called out.

The door slid open and a wet foot and leg stepped into the classroom. The students watched in awe as a wet pretty boy dragged his wet body into the room. "It was raining…" He explained. That however, was no problem to the girls. He pulled his hair back and shook out the rain from his head. "I'm Uchiha Sasuke."

Immediately, the females in this classroom have found their love target. Giggles and whispers filled the room with an ugly aura from the boys. Neji continued his disinterest in the transfer student and continued his gaze to the storm. Sasuke was dripping wet and had a dry towel around his neck. Since he was new, there was no extra clothing for him to change into.

"Alright Sasuke, you may sit between Naruto and Sakura, please raise your hands to show him where you are. Naruto, lend him your gym clothing please; we wouldn't want Sasuke catching a cold on his first day now would we?" Iruka instructed. Sakura's face color changed to her hair color as she shot up her hand. Naruto gritted his teeth, watching the new student take his place next to Sakura. Sasuke's seat was two seats in front of Neji's.

"Class is beginning now. Class rep, I'll leave you to show Sasuke around!" Iruka said to Neji. The long haired teen paid no attention to the teacher, still scrutinizing the rain. "Class rep! Hyūga Neji!" Iruka called out once more. Neji blinked a couple of times and snapped out of his daze. "What, oh, understood." He nonchalantly said.

Iruka nodded and left the classroom. Naruto had unwillingly given Sasuke his gym uniform to change into. When Sasuke came back from changing, the girls gasped in awe as they stare Sasuke's legs, seeing them for the first time. Even without Neji's help, the girls in his class surrounded Sasuke, making it very difficult for him to even breathe.

"Don't worry Sasuke; I'll help you get around here!" Sakura sweetly offered. "Shut up you billboard brow! Sasuke, I'll lend you my books for now!" Ino kindly showed Sasuke the book, pushing Sakura out of the way. Naruto fumed with anger, crumpling up a piece of paper and tossing it at Sasuke's direction. It missed Naruto's real target and ended up hitting Neji on the forehead. The blond flinched in terror.

"S-sorry Neji…" Naruto said, quickly picking it up. Neji is a strict class representative. He was always calm and mature, however, when Neji snaps, no one wanted to be near him. "Just throw it away." Neji sighed; he was too tired to deal with idiots like Naruto again.

Hours have passed and the typhoon had thankfully died down. Classes have ended and the air was damp. Neji didn't even realize how long he had been staring at the window. The classroom was emptied to an extent and he was left with a couple of students who were in clubs. As Neji grabbed some paper work for the teachers, he overheard Sakura talking to Sasuke about the clubs.

"I'm in the Judo team, you should join! I heard you have a black belt!" She said, swooning over his sigh. "I'll think about it…" He quietly said, avoiding eye contact. "What, are you scared?" Naruto teased. "Are you in the team?" Sasuke asked, giving him a glare. "That's right! And I haven't lost to anyone!" Naruto bragged. Sakura lowered her eyelids. "Didn't you just lose to Choji not long ago?" She asked. Naruto frantically retorted, but Neji wanted to hear no more. He left the classroom after finishing some forms and went to deliver it to Iruka sensei.

On his way, he bumped into Tenten, his former classmate in middle school. "Hey, Neji! How was the transfer student? I saw him just before lunch ended; he's a cute one isn't he?" Tenten giggled.

"I won't know that, talk about those things with a girl." Neji scowled. "Right, you're a boy after all! He's pretty cute so I might go for him! Help me out okay?" Tenten asked. "No, I don't have time to play around with things like that." Neji simply said.

"Aw, come on Neji, you're in the same class! Don't you talk to him at least?" She begged. Talk to him? Neji could barely see the transfer student through the many girls that crowd him. "Fine, I'll try to do it myself. Good luck with work Class Rep!" Tenten waved, going off to her own classroom.

Neji scoffed. _Love…what a waste of time._ Neji thought, heading to the teacher's office.

**A/N: How was that so far? My first time~ I don't plan on making this those quickly fall in love fics. Next chapter coming really soon!**


	2. Chapter 2: I can tell

**Chapter 2: I can tell**

Weeks have passed since Uchiha Sasuke transferred into Konoha high. The swarms of girls have died down a bit and their exams have ended. Neji was always the top of their class. There wasn't one test he hadn't placed first and he was quite popular for that. He walked over to his cousin, Hinata, who was in a different class than he was.

"Neji, what brings you here?" Tenten suddenly appeared. He had forgotten that Tenten and his cousin were in the same class. "I'm looking for my cousin…what is with your hair?" Neji asked, noticing that Tenten had let her hair down, rather than putting it up.

"Oh, this? They say that Sasuke likes long hair!" Tenten said, running her fingers through her hair. "You never like letting your hair down." Neji said distastefully. He didn't like the fact that the transfer student made such dramatic changes to a person in a short amount of time. Tenten was not a person who would care about her appearances too much and often gloated about the famous Tsunade. Now she was a love-struck teenager who Neji had enough of in his class and did not want to be around with anymore.

"By the way Neji, did you know Sasuke lives alone? I heard his parents died from a plane crash and his brother ran off with some older woman!" Tenten whispered to Neji's ear. "No, I did not, but thank you for telling me this useless information. Next time you sneak into someone's profile, cover your tracks." Neji sighed. "What? I did not!" Tenten retorted. "Don't lie to me; you know I'm good at sensing lies." Neji growled.

Tenten hesitated. "Alright, fine. You caught me. How did you find out this time?" she gave up, holding her hands up. Neji sat on a random chair and began to explain. "That information is only for teachers. He wouldn't have told anybody that since he is the quiet type in class. Also, all student files are locked up in a file cabinet. I can't think of anyone else who can pick a lock better than you can. The keys belong to a special group of people and from what I know; there are only three in this entire school."

Tenten smiled. "As always, you're really good at catching lies." Neji stood up to leave. "Tell Hinata that I will be coming home late, I have a meeting to attend." He said and left the classroom.

He noticed a crowd of people blocking the halls and took a peek at what everyone was long at. The test results were up and students were anxious. Neji had no purpose to look at the chart. He knew he'd be first place again followed up by Shikamaru. Even so, the crowd was still blocking his way; he would have to go through it to get to the other side.

Suddenly, he noticed someone had come out of the crowd and into his chest. "Hinata!" He called out. "Neji, sorry. Oh, and congratulations! You're first again!" she said to him and ran off before he could say anything. Neji sighed and pushed into the crowd, making it past many people and pushed into the center. The crowd had finally dispersed, leaving Neji in the middle to look at the charts.

Neji was first, but the runner up was not Shikamaru anymore. It was Sasuke, whose score was dangerously close to his.

_In a couple of weeks…he had already made it near the top? _Neji thought to himself. "Is that you?" He heard someone say. He turned his head to the voice and saw Sasuke, without the girls. "Is the person in first place you?" He asked again.

"...Yes, that's my score." He answered, a little annoyed that this person didn't know his class rep's name. "I see…Be careful next time, I'll top the charts." Sasuke smirked and walked past Neji. The long haired teen scowled at the direction Sasuke walked in. What was that about?

In any case, Neji had to go to the meeting quickly. He had no time to care about that transfer student. He opened the door to the meeting and apologized for being late. "It's fine, please take a seat. These are some complaints from the students for this month. Please take a look." said a senior, Temari, who handing out some papers to the first-years class reps. "The Judo mats are always left on the floor of the gyms every day. The club members are complaining that they have to clean up after the first-year Judo team and they want someone to tell them to clean up." Garra, the class rep of Tenten's class, said quietly. "The majority of the team is in your class Neji, take care of it." Temari said. Neji sighed and dropped his papers. He hated irresponsible people after all.

Neji made his way to the gym after school and opened the door to the Judo team. "Where is your captain? Rather, where is Choji?!" Neji called out. Everyone stopped and stared at each other, fearing the sudden entrance of the class rep.

"He's not the captain anymore; the joined the Sumo team after I became captain." Neji turned his head to see Sasuke sitting on the side, giving the same smirk as before.

_What? He even became the captain already?! _Neji thought in shock. "Very well, I will speak to you then." Neji sternly said. "We have been receiving complaints that the Judo mats are being left out every day. I will have to ask you to put them away after every meet." Neji explained.

Sasuke lowered his eyelids. "This gym is practically owned by the Judo team. Those complaints are from people who are in clubs. If they want to borrow our gym, they will have to clean it up, and put everything back when they are done. That is including our Judo mats." Sasuke said slyly.

"The gym belongs to everybody in this school! You will clean up after yourselves or find another place to practice!" Neji finally shouted. Everyone backed off as Sasuke stood up and faced Neji, glaring as he glared back. The air was tense as the team members fearfully gave Neji and Sasuke their space.

"How about this, you have a Judo match with me, and if you win, we will clean up and do as you say." Sasuke offered, staring into Neji's slightly lavender eyes.

Neji thought for a bit, looking at the team members who shot him ugly looks. "Are you really in a position to make bets? For the sake of the other students, I accept."

Did the team hear right? The intelligent, mature Hyūga Neji accepted a Judo match? Neji wasn't the type to engage in physical fights, moreover, he was not stupid enough to accept a challenge to something he has no knowledge of.

"Neji…are you sure you want to do that? Sasuke beat Choji first thing he came in here!" Sakura whispered to Neji as he took off his tie and rolled up his sleeves. He ignored Sakura's worried ramblings and overheard the team's cheering.

"Go Sasuke! Beat him up and we can finally have this whole gym!" He heard. What idiots, they don't even know what the two are fighting for. Neji faced Sasuke and gave off a death glare while Sasuke shot one back. The girls were in for a treat; two hot boys were going to wrestle each other and they were going to see all of it.

"Are you ready?" A student referee asked. "One moment, how do I win?" Neji asked.

This made simple question had everyone's head turn. Silence filled the gym as Sasuke chuckled. "You're and interesting guy aren't you? You never played this sport yet you still accepted my challenge?" Sasuke snickered. "Just tell me, you're wasting my time." Neji sighed, irritated to hear anymore.

"Fine, just knock me down and you win." Sasuke said, readying his stance. "Fair enough." Neji replied.

"Ready? Begin!"

**A/N: I hope I'm not going to fast... This pairing needs more love! **


	3. Chapter 3: True Intentions

**A/N: QAQ Wah, I saw my first review…I'm happy there's someone out there who loves this pairing! Alright, I'll try to write more for you! (Sorry, I would reply if I knew how to, I'm still new to this site…)**

Chapter 3: True Intentions

Sasuke was the first to run towards Neji. Everyone watching clenched their teeth in anticipation. Neji, on the other hand, put his foot in between Sasuke's running feet and simply tripped Sasuke over, pushing the rest of Sasuke's body down with his arm. Sasuke was pinned on the floor and it was Neji's win.

"O-one point…?" The referee hesitantly said. "That's not a point! That's not Judo!" The team members shouted.

"The deal was if I knocked him down. As you can clearly see, he is down." Neji sighed, clapping his hands together to rid of the dust. Sasuke lied on the floor, still stunned by Neji's simple movements to knock him down. It was over so quickly…"I'm not done yet…" Sasuke mumbled.

Neji did not hear what Sasuke said under his breath and continued to walk out of the gym. Ticked off a little, Sasuke quickly stood up and ran to attack the long haired teen. "Sasuke?! What are you-" Sakura shouted, but she had no effect on this boy.

Hearing this, Neji reacted to Sasuke's back attack right on time. He quickly turned, dodging a punch by moving to the side and in a blink of an eye, flipped over the captain of the Judo club. Sasuke, on the floor once again, was speechless. Neji sighed and held out his hand for Sasuke to take.

"What was that all about? Why did Sasuke do that? The Neji's flip and reactions are not of an amateur…" The crowd of people gossiped. The two teens paid no attention to the whispers. Sasuke grinned and grabbed Neji's hand, getting up and shaking it. "A deal is a deal, you win." Sasuke said. "Then you are responsible for the Judo team's mess." Neji said, turning his back to Sasuke and leaving the gym.

"Sasuke, are you alright, did you get hurt?" The fan girls of Sasuke crowded him with towels and drinks. Sasuke ignored them, gazing into the direction of where Neji had left.

"Good work Neji." Temari said as Neji passed the doors of the Gym. "Were you just watching the entire time?" He scowled at her. Temari chuckled. "I just wanted to see how you'd take care of the transfer student." She sneered. "Perfect, another girl fascinated with Sasuke." Neji sarcastically stated.

"Oh, it's not that Uchiha boy I'm interested in." Temari quietly said, moving closer to Neji. "How about it Neji, want to go out with me?" Temari asked. Neji wasn't surprised by this; Temari has been onto him since he entered the student council.

"Sorry, I'm not going to waste my time with love. Find someone else to play with." He said, walking back into the main entrance. "…That was another part I liked about you." Temari chuckled.

Sasuke couldn't help but over hear the conversation his upperclassman and Neji had. He felt angry yet relieved at the same time. "S-Sasuke, there is a new internet café that opened up recently. I got coupons, would you like to come with me?" Ino boldly asked, shocking and enraging the other girls. "No, I'm busy." Sasuke sighed. Ino looked down in disappointment as the other girls snickered behind her.

"Then will you take the coupon? I have no use for it anymore…" Ino asked quietly. Sasuke looked at the coupons and his face brightened a little. "Hm…good idea, thanks." He said, snatching the coupons and running to the locker rooms. Ino turned pink and proudly bragged about how she was of help to Sasuke.

Neji had finished work for this day and returned to his classroom to get ready to leave. He opened the door to his class and stared out the window. Orange sunlight filled the room, slowly dipping into the mountains. It was going to be darker soon, Neji wanted to continue staring out the window, but the sun won't stay long.

The teen grabbed his bag and left the orange painted classroom, heading down the stairs and into the main entrance. As he walked towards the gates, he saw someone's silhouette waiting by the gates. It was Sasuke, leaning on the wall and staring into the sunset. He noticed Neji walking towards him and stood up straight, greeting him.

"Yo, you're finally out." He said. Neji stopped his tracks. "You were waiting for me?" He asked, looking at Sasuke as if he was crazy. "I got some coupons to a new internet café, if you're not too busy; I want to ask you some questions." He offered, slightly showing a darker motive to the offer.

Neji looked at the coupons and then his wrist watch. "Very well." He replied, remembering Tenten's request. The two were silent when walking to the café. It was quiet and for some reason, Neji was nervous.

As the students entered the café [nearly causing the female waiters to faint] they were able to get a private seat in the corner. "This café is pretty nice; I wouldn't mind coming back here." Neji quietly mumbled. Sasuke pretended he didn't hear him, but smiled slightly as he leads Neji to their seat.

"What is it that you wanted to ask me?" Neji asked, sipping his tea. Sasuke had nearly forgotten the real reason for coming here. "Right... you seem to have a black belt from some sort of martial art. Why aren't you joining any teams?" Sasuke asked, stirring his coffee.

"I don't have a 'black belt'. My uncle taught me some self-defense." Neji said nonchalantly. Sasuke nearly choked on his coffee. "…That was _not_ mere self-defense…" he said, wiping off some coffee from his chin.

Neji watched Sasuke drink his coffee. He hesitated but finally broke the silence. "Why did you really call me here for?" He asked. Sasuke looked up in confusion.

"You wouldn't have invited me here just to ask if I had a black belt. That kind of question can be simply asked at the gateway of our school." Neji explained. Sasuke had a surprised look on his face, and then let out a sigh and a grin. "I heard you were able to tell people's true intentions, looks like it's not a joke." He said.

Neji raised an eyebrow. "You got me; I called you out here because I was interested." Sasuke said. "Interested?" He repeated. "You're the only one other than my brother who is better than me in everything. Expect me to challenge you every now and then. In order to beat my brother, surpassing you might be good training."

What was with this person? He suddenly claimed Neji as his rival because of his brother? Neji scowled at him. "Don't drag me into things I have no relation with." He said. Sasuke chuckled. "Just do everything normally and it'll be fine… you interest me after all."

Neji was getting angry every time Sasuke said that. "What am I? Stop treating me like a thing! Thanks for the tea." Neji said, leaving the café. Why did he get so angry? He shook his head to clear of that thought. He didn't like this person, so why should he care?

"…so he likes green tea…"

**A/N: …I am so sorry, Sasuke was so out of character, AND ON TOP OF THAT I MADE HIM A WEIRDO! It'll be better, promise... I guess you're not yourself when in love?  
**


	4. Chapter 4: Sunrise, Sunset

**A/N: I love reviews, they make my day! I smiled in public like a weirdo! Haha, thanks for reading!**

Chapter 4: Sunrise, Sunset.

Neji came to class the next day too early; he sat on his desk and took out an MP3 player to kill time. While listening to some music he stares out the window again. He really liked to observe the scenery when he got the chance.

The clock ticked by as he slowly drifted into his thoughts. He still had no answer as to why he was angry with Sasuke. It wasn't like he should care.

Suddenly, Neji's earphones were pulled out of his ear, giving him a little jump. "Hm...You like this band too?"

Neji looked up to see Sasuke putting the earphones in his ear, looking through his MP3 player. "Give it back" he growled, giving Sasuke a death glare.

"Did you know the drummer is going to leave the band?" Sasuke asked, ignoring Neji's threats. Neji hesitated. "No...That's just a rumor." He stated doubtfully. Sasuke pulled out a piece of paper and wrote down a web address. "Go to this site; the drummer stated he will be leaving the band here." He said, giving Neji the paper. "...Thanks...wait, give me my MP3 player back!" Neji said, forgetting Sasuke had taken his device from him.

He was so drawn into the subject; he almost became too friendly with this jerk. Sasuke gave a grin and tossed the MP3 player back to Neji. "Why are you here so early in the morning?" Sasuke asked, sitting in his own seat.

"That's none of your business. I could ask the same question." Neji sternly said, putting his device away. "...there's nothing else better to do at home anyway." Sasuke said in a slightly more serious tone.

Neji stared at Sasuke's back and remembered he had no one at home living with him. Feeling pity for him, Neji rested his chin on his hand. "I come here early to see the sunrise. And I leave late to see the sunset. That's all." He answered.

Sasuke turned to his direction and was slightly surprised. "...What? I can't like watching that?" Neji asked when Sasuke stared for too long. "No, after Judo, I go to the roof to watch the sun. My house also has a nice view of the sun when it rises." Sasuke slowly said.

Neji began to get nervous. Was the guy he didn't like in the first place actually similar to himself? No, he is nothing like that pretty boy show off.

The door slid open and Shikamaru stuck his head inside. "What, there's only two people here, I told you. You woke up too early Choji" He complained.

"Really? Good morning Sasuke, Neji!" Choji greeted. "...Morning." Neji answered.

"What are you doing?" Shikamaru said, putting his arm on Neji's shoulders. Sasuke's indifferent looks turned into a slight glare. Shikamaru met Sasuke's angry eyes and raised an eyebrow.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" He asked, lazily staring back. Neji looked up to see Sasuke's expression, but he had turned away quickly to hide his face.

Shikamaru shrugged and went to his seat, stealing a piece of Choji's egg from his breakfast. Time passed by and eventually, the entire class had come. The first class they had that day was math. Kakashi sensei had entered the room with his face covered with a mask.

"Sorry guys, I have a slight cold so don't expect me to go over your voices." He softly spoke. "I have everybody's quiz from last time. Those who went below 80 have to stay after school today. Naruto!" Kakashi called out.

Naruto happily skipped over the front, snatching the paper from Kakashi's fingers. His face suddenly turned dull and he dropped his arms. As Kakashi called the next name, Kiba grabbed Naruto's test and laughed.

"Kiba!" Kakashi called out. Kiba had the same reaction Naruto had, happily going to pick up the paper, then suddenly frowning at his test score.

"Sasuke" the transfer student stood up and walked past the gossiping girls. He looked at his paper, grinned, and then sat down. The whispers went fast in the room. "100? How did he get 100? That pop quiz was so hard!" Neji overheard.

"Neji" Kakashi called. Neji walked up to Kakashi and received his quiz. When he turned around, he noticed Sasuke staring at him. He sighed and turned the paper around. 110.

Shocked, Sasuke dropped his quiz and watched Neji sit back down. How did he get a 110?

"Alright. I'll tell you the statistics for this pop quiz. 85% of you have gotten lower than 80, therefore, because I am slightly sick, Neji! Sasuke!" Called Kakashi. The two jumped from their seats. "You two will stay after school and teach them." Kakashi smiled.

"No way! Why those two?!" Naruto complained, agitated at Sasuke's name. "Neji and Sasuke were the top two in this class. The rest of you who got higher than 80 can go home." Kakashi said.

Naruto sadly looked over to Sakura, Shikamaru, and Choji. "Shikamaru and Sakura, I understand, but why Choji?!" Naruto complained. Choji laughed. "I had Shikamaru help me out so I don't have to take summer classes." He said, teasing Naruto.

Neji sighed; this quiz was all on the board previously. There was no reason for failure. After math class ended, Sasuke walked over to Neji. Surprisingly, no girls were surrounding him. "How did you get 110? There was no extra credit…" Sasuke asked.

Neji gave Sasuke his paper and grabbed his bag. "Keep it." He said. Sasuke looked at the paper and saw that Neji had. On one of the last questions, Neji had written "The answer does not exist." with a paragraph of explanations.

The class was looking at Neji's paper, also surprised at the long explanation. Neji had not only found an error in the exam, but also answered it perfectly without flaw. Sasuke gripped Neji's desk, fired up more than ever.

Gym had begun for Neji's class and the weather was quite nice for a jog. Neji closed his eyes and let the wind flow through his hair while thinking this. Sasuke had left the building and noticed Neji's figure standing alone, watching his long silky hair flow.

Neji felt a pat on his shoulder. He was slightly annoyed that someone stopped his little relaxation time. "We are running, let's race." Sasuke said when Neji turned his head to see who it was.

"I don't want to. I'll run normally." Neji rejected, shaking off Sasuke's hand. A CD box was abruptly shoved in front of Neji's face. "This is a secret CD that band created before their first live." Sasuke said, dangling it to tease him.

"How about it? Feel like running now?" He asked Neji. Sasuke saw Neji's arms shake a little. He snatched the CD and grabbed Sasuke's shirt. "J-just this one time. Understand? I won't go easy on you." He threatened looking embarrassed.

Guy sensei, the gym teacher, readied everybody on the line. "Remember, this is only a light run, it's not a race, but try to run as fast as you can!" he laughed, contradicting his own words.

Neji and Sasuke readied themselves on the same line, then the whistle blew and they were off.

"What the—hey! Why are those two running so fast?!" Naruto asked. "Haha! That is the springtime of youth! There is so much energy in you youngsters!" Guy laughed. "Sensei! Alright me too!" Lee cried, coming out of nowhere.

"Lee…He's not even in our class…I feel a slight urge to race, want to go for it Naruto?" Kiba asked. "Of course! Ready? Go!" Naruto shouted, running ahead.

Sasuke was running as fast as he could. He paced his breathing and made sure he ran properly. He looked over to Neji who was running next to him and widened his eyes. Neji had a blank expression on his face, not tired nor panting at all from the running.

He watched as Neji passed him, running a good 2 feet in front. Sasuke grit his teeth and continued to run as fast as he could.

"Ah, my ball!" The two students heard a kid say. A yellow ball rolled out of a park after Neji ran past it, rolling to where Sasuke was going to run.

In a split second, a child had appeared in front of the park to retrieve his ball and Sasuke was going to run him over.

**A/N: Cliff hanger! Don't you love me?! I'll try to update soon, but I won't promise it… my work is just sitting there waiting for me to do it haha~**


	5. Chapter 5: Worried

**EDIT: If you didn't notice, I accidently spelled "Gai" "Guy" Though I think most of you know who I was talking about. I'll be using the "G-A-I" way to spell his name from now on!**

The child ran to retrieve his ball while Sasuke ran with full speed. The two nearly collided when Sasuke reacted to the child and swerved out of the way, making a small jump over the child and falling to the ground.

"Kou!" A woman shouted, running towards the child. "I am so sorry! Are you alright? Kou, what did I tell you about running off on your own?!" The woman scolded her child. Neji had stopped running and jogged back to his competitor, who was still sitting on the ground.

"…Are you alright?" Neji asked coolly, holding out his hand for Sasuke to grab. "Yeah, that surprised me." He groaned, taking Neji's hand. Sasuke winced in the process of getting back on his feet and fell back down.

"I take that back, I am _not_ alright." He said, taking off his sneakers. "I think I might have twisted it." Sasuke said quietly. Neji saw Sasuke's ankle swell up.

"It can't be helped." Neji sighed. He turned his back to Sasuke and kneeled down. "Get on." Neji said, offering a Piggy-back ride. Sasuke covered his face with one hand to hide his embarrassment. Neji rolled his eyes and turned his head.

"Hurry up; we are supposed to be back by now. Sasuke hesitated, but leaned over and put his arm around Neji's neck. He felt his own heartbeat race as his chest touched Neji's slim back. Neji was able to lift Sasuke up easily and began to walk back. Sasuke felt his legs press against Neji's waist and his face touched Neji's soft hair. He felt his heart beat faster as he thought to himself how beautiful Neji's figure was. It wasn't long before Sasuke realized why his heart was beating so fast.

Gai saw the two slowly walk back and rushed to their side. "What happened?" He asked frantically. "Sasuke hurt his ankle while avoiding a collision with a child." Neji explained. Gai had the funniest expression in Neji's opinion.

"Q-quickly, carry him to the infirmary!" Gai hysterically ordered. "You don't need to tell me that." Neji irritably said.

"S-sorry about this…" Sasuke said behind Neji quietly. "Apologizing like that hurts your pride doesn't it?" Neji bluntly said, teasing the popular teen. "Don't worry about it; just treat me to that café again." Neji said, turning his head to smile slightly.

Sasuke stared at that smiling face for the two seconds it had lasted. It was the first time he saw Neji smile and it was stunning. He hid his face behind Neji's neck to hide his embarrassment.

As Neji passed through the halls, Temari watched the two head into the infirmary, glaring at the closed door.

"Thank you, I can take him from here." Shizune, the nurse, said. Neji bowed to Shizune and waved goodbye to Sasuke, only to see him looking away from Neji. Thinking that he was only embarrassed, Neji shrugged and left the infirmary, walking back down the halls.

"You've changed." Neji heard someone say. Temari emerged from the shadow, grinning slyly. "Giving piggy back rides? There was a girl who fell down the stairs in the beginning of the year and you could have been just as nice to give her a ride to the infirmary." Temari said.

"This case and that case are different." Neji simply said. "I don't think so. You've grown softer Neji." Temari sneered.

"What do you want from me?" Neji asked. "Oh, very good. Very well, I followed you to tell you that I'm not giving up, even if you reject me. You may not notice it, but you are quite popular as well. The girls are just too shy to say anything, but not me. I like this 'kinder' part of you as well." Temari said, turning to walk back to her own class. "See you around class rep." She said, waving proudly.

Neji gave a small sigh. He thought he had made it clear he wasn't going to waste his time with love.

The school day passed by and Neji had not seen Sasuke come back to class. Would a twisted ankle really take a full day in the infirmary? Feeling a little worried, Neji decided it wouldn't hurt to take two minutes of his time to check up on Sasuke. He opened the door to find his face nearly bumping into the breasts of Temari.

"Class rep, we have a meeting." She said, apathetic about the face that his face was nearly in her chest. Neji stood up straight and looked away. "R-right, I'm coming." He said, a little disappointed he didn't get to visit.

Neji was distracted during the meeting. He barely paid any attention to the purpose of it. Looking out the window, he only wondered if the injured ankle wasn't too serious.

"We have a school festival to raise money. Each class has to hand in a paper by the end of this week with the activities they will be doing for the festival. Here are the papers you'll need." Temari said, handing the papers out, handing one to Neji. Neji was looking elsewhere and didn't notice her at all.

"Neji!" Temari shouted. "Huh, oh thanks." Neji said, snapping back to reality and taking the paper. "Meeting is adjourned." Temari said, suspiciously looking at Neji.

Neji left the meeting, going back to class to tutor the students who failed the quiz Kakashi had given them. He didn't expect Sasuke to come, but he was hoping for it. When he opened the door, he gave a disappointed frown.

Every little idiot was in this room and he was the only sane one there. With great difficulty, Neji tutored his classmate, unable to get the math through Naruto's head. The supplementary class had ended and Neji looked at his watch; it was almost that time.

The sun began to dip and the orange light flooded the room. He was able to relax a bit after staring off into the sunlight. Once again, Sasuke came up in his mind. It was strange how he always seemed to appear in Neji's head.

"I'm just a little worried…that's all." Neji told himself, grabbing his bag and heading to the infirmary. He opened the door, finding no one to be in sight.

"May I help you?" Shizune asked, popping her head out of another room. "Yes, I just wanted to see how Uchiha was doing." Neji said. "Ah, that young man with the twisted ankle; he left not long ago." She said. "Do you know where he went?" Neji asked. "I assume it was home. School is over after all." Shizune said. Neji thought for a while. "No…" He said to himself.

He bowed and thanked the nurse, heading up the stairs and to the top of the roof. Neji felt the warm breeze and looked around. There was a ladder leading upwards to the roof above the stairway. He climbed the ladder and spotted Sasuke lying down, sleeping with a bandaged ankle.

"I thought you'd be up here. Your ankle seems better." Neji said, sitting next to Sasuke and facing the sun. Sasuke opened his eyes and faced Neji.

"What are you doing up here?" He asked. "I was just checking to see if you could walk, though that doesn't seem like a problem now." Neji said, trying to hide the fact that he was worried.

The wind blew softly again, making Neji's hair flow with the wind. Sasuke watched Neji's calm face and silky hair, feeling his face grow hotter.

Sasuke sat up and grabbed his bag. "I-I'm going home first." Sasuke said, standing up and limping to the ladder. "H-hey! Be careful!" Neji said, following him. _What got into him all of a sudden? _Neji thought.

The two made it back down to the ground and began to walk home. There was an odd silence between them, both unsure of what to say. Sasuke looked to the ground and broke the silence.

"I'll treat you to that café when I get better; you even took double the work for tutoring my portion of the class." Sasuke quietly said. "Oh, you're right… Alright thanks." Neji said, a little happy about the offer.

The two seemed to have been walking the same direction for a while. It wasn't long before Neji broke the silence again. "Where do you live? I'm already close to my house." He asked, hoping Sasuke wasn't just following him.

"I live a few blocks down; we live pretty close to each other. We… should walk together… whenever we get the chance." Sasuke hesitantly said. "Okay!" Neji felt a little happy he didn't have to come home alone every day. Sasuke smiled and waved goodbye as he walked home. Neji waved, then put his hand on his mouth.

_Why am I so nervous when I am around him? Maybe I'm still a little worried._ Neji thought to himself. When he got home, Hinata came out of the kitchen to welcome him.

"How was the meeting?" She asked. "Normal. I have a question." Neji told Hinata while going on the computer to look at the site Sasuke gave him earlier in the morning.

"Yes? What is it?" Hinata nervously asked. "What happened after Naruto came to our school? Suddenly you cared about how you looked and became shyer than you are now." Neji asked. Hinata blushed.

"Well…I bumped into him before class one day…and ever since that day I couldn't stop thinking of him…" Hinata explained.

Neji didn't like where this was going.

"D-did your heart beat fast?"

A nod.

"Did you worry about him a lot?"

Another nod.

"Did you watch over him all the time?"

One more nod.

"Why?" Neji asked. "B-because I like him…" Hinata said shyly.

Neji looked down at his feet, widening his eyes.

"Neji…did you fall in love?"

**A/N: Another cliffhanger? ;D**


	6. Chapter 6: Misinterpretation

**A/N: Sorry for the long break! I think I wrote a little more than usual so enjoy! Oh, and THANK YOU FOR THE REVIEWS! My hopes of this story succeeding becomes higher each time! ;3**

Chapter 6: Misinterpretation

In love? Neji ignored his cousin's question and ran out of his house, talking a walk to calm his mind. Hinata silently watched her cousin walk out, a little worried about that reaction. "He probably likes that upperclassman Temari." She giggled.

Sasuke opened the door to his apartment, noticing an envelope on his coffee table with his name on it. He tossed his bag to the sofa and sat down, ripping the opening of the envelope. Inside were a bundle of bills and a little note.

"For this month's rent." Sasuke read out loud. Right away, he knew who had sent the money. Sasuke threw the envelope on the floor, letting the bills fly all over the living room.

"Damn Itachi… why bother coming home…you weren't even there for mom and dad's funeral!" He shouted.

The bills finally landed on the floor and Sasuke glared at the envelope. He didn't want to think about his idiot brother anymore. He stormed out of the apartment, hoping a walk would clear his mind.

Neji swung on a swing set, wondering about his conversation with Hinata. If he were in love with Sasuke, wouldn't that make him a homosexual?

He had read about them in school briefly but never knew what it would be like. There were many girls in his life he could have fallen in love with, but when they confess or ask him out, he never took any interest.

Neji didn't find any males attractive either, was it just Sasuke? Neji thought about this long and hard when suddenly, someone walked in front of him. "I didn't expect to bump into you here."

Taken by surprise, Neji jolted when he looked up to see Sasuke. "Yo."

"WHOA!" Neji shouted, falling backwards. Sasuke shut his eyes when Neji hit the ground hard.

Sasuke began to chuckle, giving Neji a hand. Neji sat up and blushed embarrassingly, rubbing his head.

"Shut up, don't scare me like that." Neji growled, grabbing Sasuke's hand. "It wasn't my intention." Sasuke laughed.

Neji noticed a change in Sasuke's aura. It seemed as if he were hiding behind his smile. Neji sat back down on his swing. "What's wrong, you don't look well. Is your ankle still in pain?" Neji asked.

Sasuke stared at this teen. Normally whenever Sasuke hides his anger, no one would really sense it, but Neji noticed right away. Was it his insane skill of perceiving lies?

"It's nothing, I feel fine! You're the one acting weird." Sasuke grinned. Neji lowered his eyelids, making a scary glare. "You know that won't work on me." He said. Sasuke stopped his fake smiles, pulling a blank expression instead. He gave up and sat down next to Neji on the swings.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Neji said after noticing Sasuke's silence. Neji hurt himself a little when he said that, but he didn't want to be too nosy.

Sasuke shook his head. "I'll tell you, you'll probably find out soon anyway." Sasuke said, surprising Neji a little. Sasuke never spoke of his life to anyone before, and he never wanted to. However, when it came to Neji, Sasuke felt like he could tell him everything.

"I had a happy family before my brother ran from home. Itachi was the ideal man, son, and brother. One day, he suddenly ran off with a woman from college and went far away. My parents didn't mind his eloping with that woman but they wanted to see him. They boarded an airplane two years ago. That plane exploded due to some internal gas leakage that no one noticed."

Neji listened closely to Sasuke's story, nodding his head with every point made. Sasuke's face grew grimmer and grimmer while telling the story of his brother.

"So basically, your brother was a typical kind brother, but he turned out to be a jack-ass who betrays his family to run off with women?" Neji summarized. Sasuke nodded.

"The day of our parents' funeral, he didn't even show up! When I finally see him, he is with another woman and tells me he won't be coming home anymore. That bastard didn't even know my parents died in that airplane just to see him!" Sasuke yelled, punching a nearby pole.

Neji looked to the sky, a little doubtful of Itachi's actions. Was he really a perverted jerk, or was there some truth to this story? Neji didn't tell Sasuke this, fearing it would anger him more.

"I hate him and I don't want to be babied by him anymore, that's why I have to finish high school and show him I am the better man!" Sasuke growled.

Neji put his hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "Calm yourself, or your hate for him will cloud your visions."

Sasuke lifted his eyebrow to the metaphor, but in a way, understood what Neji was saying and nodded his head, calming down a little.

"So after you saw the envelope, you came out for a walk to clear your mind?" Neji asked.

"Yeah, I like taking walks; it helps clean out the bad thoughts… What about you? You still haven't told me why you're here." Sasuke said, remembering his original question.

Neji looked away when Sasuke asked this question. Neji couldn't say he fell in love with Sasuke… "Er…I also wanted to take a walk. It calms me." He said, not completely lying.

Sasuke nodded and used his legs to push from the ground, swinging lightly. "You know, I feel better when I told you about this. Normally, the teachers are a pain in the ass when they ask me about my brother."

Neji smiled a little. "Sometimes, it's better to tell than bottling up your feelings." He said, feeling a bit hypocritical.

Sasuke felt a little jumpy from the smile Neji gave him and stood up. "You should go home, it's getting late." He said, looking the opposite direction to hide his reddened face.

"You're right. Take care of that ankle. I'll see you later." Neji said and walked out of the park.

Sasuke stood in front of the swings, holding one hand over his mouth. "Damn it…When did I become a homo?"

The next morning, Neji walked from the teacher's office back to his classroom. It was near the end of the week and he had to hand in the form for the school festival activities.

"Good morning Neji!" Tenten said, startling Neji by popping out of her classroom. Neji dropped his papers and took a small sigh.

"Good morning. How are you so energetic?" He asked, picking up the papers. Tenten didn't answer. She stood there grinning and humming. "W-What is it?" Neji asked.

"I know who you like!" Tenten sung while whispering. Neji's heart couldn't beat any harder and his stomach burning hotter when he heard this. Did she find out he fell for Sasuke? If so, how did she?

Neji stuttered, unable to find the right words to say, then turned red and silent. "Your cousin told me last night! Here, I got these tickets from my co-workers in the butcher shop! I gave one to Temari already so you two have fun in the amusement park on Saturday!" Tenten said and ran off.

…_What?_ Neji thought, standing there in a daze. The bell rang and Neji had no time to retort that it wasn't Temari he liked. He stuffed the ticket in his pocket and ran to class, gritting his teeth in anger.

He did not see Sasuke in class today, and sadly, it was to his relief. During lunch, Neji couldn't find Tenten anywhere. He heard whispers throughout the halls.

"Did you hear Neji and Temari are going out? Isn't that a rumor? Temari showed me her ticket! It's true!" He heard.

The bell rang once more and he had skipped lunch looking for the two. He nearly gave up when it was towards the end of school. Neji was on cleaning duty and walked out of the school to toss the trash away. He turned a corner and saw Temari and Tenten talking together.

"YOU TWO!" He shouted, running furiously towards them. "Neji!" Tenten said. Temari smirked and put her arms around him. "Hands off me. Tenten there was some sort of mistake." He said to Tenten. "Mistake?" Tenten asked, confused. "I told you Tenten, the one Neji likes isn't me." Temari said, still having her arms around Neji's neck. "Eh? It's not Temari? Then who…"

Neji pulled Temari's arms off him. "That's none of your business. Take this back. I can't go." Neji said, giving Tenten the ticket back.

"Oh, Neji. You're a silly child." Temari said. Neji glared at her, making her fall for him more. "Tenten went through a lot to get these tickets for us. It's rude to give it back. Besides, we don't have to go as a couple. Who decided we needed to be dating to hang out? We can go as friends." Temari said, grinning.

Neji continued to glare. There was an ulterior motive Temari had and Neji knew it. However, Temari did prove a point. If it was rude, Neji did not want to disrespect Tenten nor her co-workers.

"Fine, I'll go with you. But find some way to stop the rumors, I find it annoying when people believe the two of us are dating." Neji said and stormed off.

Temari smirked again and turned to Tenten. "Thanks, you really helped me out, I really like him after all." She told her. "I wouldn't have known if it weren't for Hinata. You should thank her!" Tenten said, not realizing Temari was already rejected by Neji.

Temari smiled at the clueless child and left to head into the building. She opened her cellphone and hid her voice. "Kankuro, keep spreading those rumors, we need all the support we can." Temari whispered to the phone.

"What are you doing?" Someone said behind her back. Temari quickly closed her phone and turned around.

"Garra! I'm just talking to my friends, what are you doing here?" Temari nervously said. Garra glared suspiciously at her and ignored her question, leaving the school. Temari sighed in relief.

Sasuke stayed at home this day, not wanting to painfully walk back and forth with an injured ankle. He flopped on his sofa for a nap a little bored being alone. He began to remember his peaceful past, where his parents were still alive and his brother would play with him whenever he was bored. The thought of his brother angered him, giving him negative thoughts and memories. Just as his neutral expression turned angry, his doorbell rang, startling him. He limped over to the door and opened it, finding Neji holding out a bag with some paper inside.

Sasuke was a little surprised. "I have my reasons for not coming to school." He said nervously. "I know; these are just notes on what you have missed. It's not going to be fair if we competed on an exam again." Neji explained bluntly.

Sasuke chuckled. "That's true. Thanks, do you want to come in?" He asked. Neji shook his head. "Sorry, I have to go home now. Thank you."

Neji bowed and walked away. Sasuke wondered why Neji was acting a little strange but shook it off. Within the bag of notes, Sasuke found some oranges and a couple of store-bought Onigiri. He had forgotten to eat lunch too, Neji had really good timing.

Feeling bad for not going to school, Sasuke decided he would go to school the next morning. It was the last day of the week and it was time for the decision of the class activity for the school festival anyway. Sasuke walked slowly to school, not feeling too much pain. The girls flocked all over him right when he approached 10 feet from the school gates.

_Annoying…_ Sasuke thought when the girls asked if he was alright and if there was anything they could do to help him. Just when Sasuke walked in to the gates, the girls backed off for some reason.

He looked up to see Garra standing in the middle of the school entrance ground, checking to see if there were any misbehaving students. The girls quietly passed Garra without saying another word. He overheard the girls say 'Garra would beat you up if you disobey him' and snickered.

Their eyes met and they glared at one another for a couple of seconds. Garra broke the glare and continued to look around. Sasuke shrugged and continued to go into the school.

"Did you hear? Neji and Temari are going on a date tomorrow!" Sasuke heard Kiba say to Naruto. "I thought Neji wasn't interested, didn't he reject a whole bunch of girls before?" Naruto asked. "I guess not Temari; I think someone said he liked her for a long time already!" Kiba said.

Sasuke felt his chest grow tight. He walked over to Kiba and grabbed his collar. "Who told you that?" He threatened.

Kiba waved his hands and shook his head. "It's just a rumor! Why are you so angry?!" He asked. Sasuke calmed down a bit and remembered where he was. "Just ask Neji you idiot!" Naruto said.

Sasuke remembered that he and Neji were in the same class and stormed to the classroom, opening the door. "Sasuke! Good morning!" Ino and Sakura said at the same breath.

"Where is our class rep? I need to ask him something about the festival." Sasuke lied. "I think he went to the student council…" Sakura replied. "Thanks." He said and ran off.

"Hear that Ino you pig! Sasuke thanked me!" Sakura bragged. "So what?! He thanked me for those coupons!" Ino shot back. The two girls argued as Naruto and Kiba came into the classroom to watch the cat fight.

Sasuke rudely opened the door to the student council where he saw Neji and Temari discussing something alone. Neji was a bit surprised to see Sasuke, Temari on the other hand, glared at the pretty boy.

"This is a room only student councils are allowed to enter! Leave!" Temari shouted. The people walking in the halls quickly passed by after hearing Temari's strict voice, but she didn't scare Sasuke.

He ignored her remark and grabbed Neji's wrist. "Hey! Get back here!" Temari shouted. "S-sorry, I'll be right back!" Neji said to Temari, unsure of what's happening.

Sasuke brought Neji to the roof where no one was around. "What's going on? Why are we up here?" Neji asked, a little angry that Sasuke interrupted his conversation.

"Are you going out with Temari on Saturday?" Sasuke asked.

"What?"

Sasuke turned around and glared harshly at Neji.

"Are you going out with Temari on Saturday?!"

Neji bit his lip in fear, but seeing how it wouldn't really affect Sasuke in any way, he honestly replied.

"I…am…"

**A/N: Phew! Not sure if you noticed, but I put some lines in here that symbolizes Sasuke's blindness. ;D I'm not sure what is going on in the real story now but I think I remember he was going blind too right? Correct me if I am wrong " **


	7. Chapter 7: Fearless

**A/N: I saw one review and I wanted to say, I lost interest in Naruto after the time skip. One reason is because of Sasuke. He isn't my favorite character, which is why I wanted to use the personality he had before he left Konoha. I only like Sasuke when he is with Neji! They are my OTP so thank you for supporting them with me! (I wish there were more fans~)**

**Also I know there are a lot of spelling errors, so let me fix that haha. Gaara was incorrect and I'll be fixing it in here. (Because fixing it in the last chapter is a pain in the-) ENJOY!**

Chapter 7: Fearless

Sasuke lightened his harsh glare to Neji when he saw a look of worry on Neji's face. The two heard the door to the roof open and turned to look. "What are you two doing here?"

"Gaara." Neji identified. "The roof is off limits to students. Return to your classroom." Gaara stated. Without another word, Sasuke walked past Gaara and through the door.

Neji watched Sasuke walk off, then looked at Gaara. "Sorry, we needed to talk." Neji said to him. "I expect of this from the Uchiha, but not you." Gaara bluntly said. Neji gave a nervous smile and began to walk past him.

Gaara closed his emerald green eyes. "Are you really going tomorrow with my sister?"

Neji stopped his tracks and turned his head to the red head, wondering why the most indifferent person in this school cared about this. "Yes…" Neji answered.

"Is that so…Be careful then." Gaara said, walking back down the stairs. Neji stood alone in the door way of the roof and wondered if going to the amusement park was really a good idea.

Neji entered class a little late, not that the kind Iruka-sensei minded. He silently sat down, watching Sasuke's back. _What made him so angry…He doesn't even know Temari…_ Neji thought.

It was break time and Neji had to ask the class for their opinion of the school festival activity. He sighed, not wanting to go up there. He already knew the class would argue and he rather not have his ears painfully ring while listening to their suggestions.

"Alright, we have a school festival coming soon and our class needs to hand in their activity for this festival. If there are any suggestions please raise your hand and-"

"LET'S DO A MAID CAFÉ" Naruto shouted out without raising his hand. Neji felt anger boil inside of him, but he held it in and painfully smiled. "I said to raise your-"

"Hell no Naruto! The girls are going to reject it of course! We should do a scary house! That way everyone can participate!" Kiba shouted. Neji gave up as he listened to the two argue, putting his hand on his head.

"Let's just sell food!" Choji happily said, eating some chips. "Leave me out of it." Shikamaru yawned. "Choji you shut up fat ass!" Naruto called out. Choji's hand stopped its rummaging in the chip bag as his eye turned into a glare. "Crap…I forgot the taboo word…" Naruto nervously said. Neji watched as Choji threw a table at Naruto's direction and noticed Sasuke holding his ears shut, obviously annoyed at the class as much as Neji was.

"Naruto, Choji, SHUT UP." Sakura and Ino said together. The two boys stopped their arguments once the women began to show their true nature. "We have an idea that'll include all of those things. A host club! This way, everybody gets a job, there will be food, and Shikamaru doesn't have to do much but talk!" Sakura explained.

"Host club? How does everyone participate? Not everyone is going to be a host you know." Kiba said with doubt. "Of course we will choose the best looking men and the boys will choose the best looking women! The ones who aren't chosen will be the waiters serving food!" Ino said, showing the class a box to hold the ballots.

The class seemed to be in agreement with Ino and Sakura's idea. Neji sighed and wrote down "Host Club" in the activity box. "I won't guarantee this will be accepted." Neji said, looking at the class worriedly. "Have a back-up idea if the idea gets rejected."

After class, Neji dropped off the paper in the teacher's office, heading to the student council office. He opened the door and as he expected, Temari was there waiting for him. "Shall we continue our conversation from this morning? I suggest you remind that new boy that this office is only for authorized people." Temari said while grinning.

"That's fine. Moreover, let's go back to the conversation. I am not going for a picnic. Just to the amusement park then back home." Neji sternly said.

"That's such a waste! The weather is getting warmer too, why can't we just have lunch?" Temari asked.

"Lunch can be bought and eaten within the park. There is no need to bring a picnic." Neji repeated, getting annoyed at the upperclassman.

"Well, no matter what's your opinion, I am bringing the food and meeting you in this park at noon understand? If you don't come, the food will spoil and you'll make me wait one hour before going to the park." Temari stated, getting up to leave the room.

"Hey, wait! I won't be there! Don't bring lunch!" Neji shouted to the closing door. He sighed, knowing she would do as she said. The more he makes the meeting seem less like a date, the more Temari makes the meeting more like a date.

Sasuke didn't see Neji after class today, he ran out of the class rather quickly. He clicked his teeth in frustration and left the class. On his way to the gates, he noticed a red headed figure facing him.

"…Gaara was it? What are you still doing here?" Sasuke asked. Gaara said nothing and instead pulled out a paper with a time and location. "You're friends with Hyūga aren't you? This either belongs to him or Temari. Give it to him." Gaara said and left Sasuke with the paper. It was the meeting time and location for the next day.

Sasuke glared at the paper, but didn't crumple it. Instead he memorized the time and location. "This handwriting isn't his…" Sasuke noticed.

"Uchiha, right? Are you going home?" Sasuke heard someone say. He turned and saw Temari sneering at him. Temari saw the paper on Sasuke's hand and glared at him. "Why do you have that?" She asked him.

Sasuke held up the paper. "Gaara found it." He simply said. "Give that to me." Temari said, snatching it away.

"Students shouldn't loiter around school after hours." The two heard Neji say. The two looked to the direction of the school and saw that Neji had followed up with the two. The sunset reflected off the school windows and made Neji's body shine with orange light. "Temari, you should know this rule." Neji sternly said.

Temari and Sasuke were at a loss for words. Neji's appearance was too beautiful with the sunlight adding a perfect effect. "Uh, ah! This! This was for you!" Temari finally said.

Neji saw the paper and gave a confused look at it. "I thought I tossed this out this morning…" Neji quietly mumbled. "Anyway go home; it's going to get dark." Neji said, shoving the paper in his pocket.

Temari nodded began to walk away. "Remember! Noon tomorrow!" Temari shouted. Neji sighed, unable to change Temari's mind and faced Sasuke.

"How's your ankle?" He asked, being cautious around Sasuke as a result from that morning. "It's…fine. There's no pain." Sasuke replied, feeling guilty for shouting at Neji in the morning.

Neji smiled slightly, relieved Sasuke wasn't too angry with him anymore. "I have to go out for dinner tonight so take care when walking home." Neji said, walking to another direction. Sasuke nodded, saying nothing as he waved and watched Neji's fade to the horizon.

Neji had arrived to a ramen shop where Naruto and Choji waved their arm to him. "What is it? I don't plan on treating the two of you." Neji said, taking a seat next to them. "No worries about that! Choji's dad is treating us!" Naruto said, happily swallowing his ramen.

Neji wearily glanced at the bowls piled up next to Naruto and Choji. They must have eaten over a hundred bowls. "What did you call me here for? I have no time to have a ramen race." Neji remarked.

Naruto laughed. "You probably can't with against Choji anyway! He's a fa-…fast…fast eater!" Naruto gave peeked at Choji, who continued to eat normally. Naruto sighed in relief and finally calmed down a little.

"The girls put us in charge of the food for the Host Club. What is the money limit?" Naruto asked. Neji put his hand on his forehead. "The idea was not accepted yet. I don't know what the limit is; that is decided by the teachers." He said, irked at the blonde's stupidity.

"Why can't you decide?" Naruto complained. "Because I don't have that authority!"

Naruto pouted. "Don't worry about that now Naruto, let's enjoy the ramen okay?" Choji mumbled with his mouth full of noodles.

"Yeah! Neji eat up! I'll eat it if you don't!" Naruto said, aiming his chopsticks for Neji's bowl of ramen.

Sasuke took a walk around the neighborhood before he went home. He had remembered the meeting time and angrily kicked a pole. "Damn it!"

The next morning, Neji woke up a little late, unhappy with the event that is going to take place. He took out some random set of clothing and went to take a bath.

"I really don't want to do this…" Neji told himself, entering the tub filled with hot water. He sighed, letting his hair float aimlessly in the water.

"I hope I don't bump into anyone today. It'll be a big misunderstanding." Neji said. After the bath, Neji dried his hair and headed out. It was a nice day out and not to cold either.

The teen walked to a nearby floral park where the trees and flowers were beginning to bloom. The buds were growing but no flowers were seen. He noticed Temari leaning on a nearby tree and waving to him.

"Over here! You're early! I knew you'd show up." Temari happily said. "I only came for a morning walk…You're too early too, aren't you?" Neji sighed, looking at the big picnic basket.

"Don't mind the small details! Let's go already." Temari said, pulling Neji's arm. "It's not even noon yet…"

Neji walked past many trees and noticed there were not many people in the area today. Relieved, he followed Temari to a nice spot under the trees.

"…A picnic? What's with that?" Sasuke said, hiding behind a big tree. He was wearing a cap and sunglasses for his disguise and so far it was working well. "I thought the meeting was at noon…they came really early…" he muttered to himself.

"Temari actually left the house around ten this morning." Sasuke heard someone say. He turned around and saw Gaara crouching behind a bush next to him. "G-Gaara?! What are you doing here?" Sasuke whispered.

"The same as you, Temari is my sister after all." Gaara simply replied. Sasuke swallowed in fear, he didn't even hear Gaara come near him. "Temari is planning something, Neji already rejected her too." Gaara explained.

"Planning? Temari confessed to Neji already?" Sasuke asked, surprised to hear this. "Yeah, I over hear my brother and Temari at times. One thing about my sister is that she isn't going to give up no matter what." Gaara said.

"…Why are you telling me this?" Sasuke asked. Gaara looked at Sasuke and lowered his eyelids. "Because I know." He said, pointing to his tattoo above his eye. Sasuke realized Gaara knew about his feelings towards Neji.

"Anyway, Temari probably wants to play around with Neji, she is never serious about a relationship." Gaara sighed, wrapping a scarf around his neck.

Sasuke watched Temari lean closer and closer to Neji as he moves farther from her. "That's more of a reason to follow them. Though, I still don't know why you're here." Sasuke said, glowering at Gaara.

"Don't be so paranoid. I didn't fall for him so relax." Gaara said, watching Sasuke sigh in relief.

"Temari likes to play around with rich men. That results in their coming to my house and asking for her hand in marriage. They end up trying to fight me so I have no choice but to fight. The reason why I came today is because I want to stop her from doing that." Gaara explained.

Sasuke remembered the girls in the school avoiding Gaara because it was rumored he would beat who ever disobeyed him. Perhaps the rumor was based on this…

"Pay better attention, Temari is feeding him now." Gaara said, pointing in their direction. "What?!" Sasuke watched in anger as Neji turned his face away while Temari attempted to feed him.

Sasuke suddenly realized something. "Wait… did you say 'rich men'?" Sasuke asked. Gaara nodded. "Neji lives in a rich family, you didn't know?" he asked. Sasuke shook his head, wondering how much more of Neji he doesn't know of.

"They're leaving." Gaara said, leaving with them. Sasuke nodded and followed Gaara's steps. Temari and Neji entered the amusement park and handed in their tickets.

"We just ate lunch, no rollercoasters…" Neji said fearfully. "I know already! Let's go to the horror house!" Temari said, pulling him.

Sasuke and Gaara paid for their tickets and quickly caught up. "Do you want to go in? I prefer waiting at the other side…" Sasuke said. Gaara shrugged and followed Sasuke to the other side of the horror house.

Sasuke watched the two have fun in many of the rides. He was having a horrible time holding in the anger as he watched Temari make her moves on Neji whenever she had the chance.

Neji did not look like he was having fun; most of the time, he was just daydreaming or looking elsewhere, not paying the slightest attention to Temari.

"The day is almost ending; Neji is doing a good job rejecting her every time she does something to him." Gaara said, looking up at the orange sky.

Sasuke grew a little alert when the two sat alone on a bench. Gaara noticed this and put his hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "Calm down, we are going to be found out." He reminded Sasuke.

"Did you have fun today?" Temari asked Neji, sitting closer to him. Neji was looking elsewhere, showing an uninterested expression. Peeved, Temari made her final move on him.

"Hey Neji, I know you aren't interested in me, but do you want to try and kiss me?" Temari boldly asked, placing her hand on his cheek.

"Huh? What?!" Neji said, startled by Temari's sudden action. "Come on, if you still don't have feelings for me, I'll stop chasing you. Just one…" she said with her face growing closer to his.

"Wait! That's not the problem! Temari!" Neji shouted, trying to push her.

_Damn! I was caught off guard! _Neji thought.

Suddenly, a hand grasped Temari's hand on Neji's cheek. "That's enough."

Temari and Neji look up to see Sasuke standing behind them, giving off the scariest Death Glare ever.

"Temari, you went too far." Gaara said, standing up from the bushed as well. "Gaara! What are you doing here?!" Temari asked fearfully.

Sasuke grabbed Neji's wrist and pulled him from the seat, taking him back to the city. "Gaara, I'm leaving your sister to you." Sasuke said.

Gaara nodded and turned to Temari, who was pouting. "Haven't you had enough?" Gaara asked. Temari scoffed.

"Who I like is none of your business." She courageously said. Gaara grabbed her collar. "It's my business when your ex-boyfriends hire their gangs to beat me because you dump them. Those men aren't there for you to play with, they have feelings too. Quit playing with people's feelings or you'll be the next person I send to the hospital." Gaara threatened.

Temari gulped in terror as Gaara let go of her shirt. He picked up her picnic bag and her bags of toys they won from the amusement park. "Let's go home." He said to her. Temari nodded and followed him.

Neji felt nervous while Sasuke pulled him. This was the same as before when they were in school. "S-Sasuke, where are you taking me?" He asked.

Sasuke made a quick turn to a dark and vacant alley. He pushed Neji to the wall and glared at him.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that? Why are you so angry?" Neji finally asked.

Sasuke said nothing. All he did was gaze into Neji's pale eyes.

"Wh-" Neji began, but his words were interrupted…

… by a pair of lips on his.

**A/N: Don't you love me for stopping here?! I updated pretty fast this time. I kind of want to draw this! :D Speaking of drawing, there is an artist I saw on deviantart who also likes this pairing! Check her out!**

**(I don't know this person in any way, I saw that she liked SasuNeji too!)**

**EDIT: It seems like I can't put any URLs in here so just search for "alpha2nd2006" on deviant art!**


	8. Chapter 8: Confusion and Understanding

**I am so sorry for not updating for a while. Work suddenly piled up and my damn professors lined up all my exams together! I swear, they secretly meet in the back to plan my demise QAQ"… But as a reward for waiting, I WROTE A LOT SO YAY! ENJOY MY FRIENDS!**

Chapter 8: Confusion and Understanding

Sasuke's lips parted from Neji's, slowly looking up to see his reaction. Neji showed a blank and surprised expression, nearly unaffected by the kiss.

Neji averted his eyes downward and slapped Sasuke's arm off of his shoulder. He then quickly pushed Sasuke's chest with his palm and ran off, leaving the pretty boy on the floor rubbing his chest.

"What the hell was that?" Sasuke groaned.

The push Neji gave Sasuke was an odd yet effective move. Sasuke pondered on the style of this movement due to the fact that he had never seen it before.

Sasuke stood up and sighed. Perhaps this bold action wasn't such a good idea to someone who has no interest in love.

Neji ran and ran all the way home, slamming his door shut and dropping his bags. He finally gave up and blushed all the way to his ears.

Neji was red like a ripe tomato and his face felt hot. He covered his lips with his fingers and remembered the raw taste of Sasuke's lips.

Neji quickly paced around, wondering what he should do.

"Neji..." Hinata called from the outside of his door. Neji slid open a tiny slit of his door, just enough for his eye to see.

"What's wrong Neji? Did your date go bad?" Hinata worriedly asked. Neji thought for a minute and fully opened his door.

"Let me ask you a question!" Neji said, startling Hinata.

"Y-yes?" She said.

"What does it mean if someone kisses you?" Neji asked with a glare. Frightened to ask what happened, Hinata truthfully answered.

"Well, it could mean that person is in love. Or, Ten Ten says sometimes it could mean you're being toyed with." She said, looking up to remember the words of her classmate.

Neji felt anger course through his veins. Toyed? Sounds likely for someone like Sasuke.

Neji thanked Hinata, closing the door and flopping on his bed.

"I even showed him one of father's secret moves..." He moaned, slapping his own forehead.

The following school day, Neji sat up from his bed with his hair completely messed up. He had dark circles under his pale lavender eyes, indicating that he had no sleep that night. Neji sighed; he didn't want to attend school.

Neji packed his books for class, silently leaving his large house forgetting to eat any breakfast. On his way, he saw Temari waiting by the front gates. He attempted to steer clear of her vision, but failed.

"Neji!" Temari called out. "L-Look Temari, I'm happy that you like me but I don't-" Neji began, but was stopped by Temari's smile. Though it wasn't unusual for Temari to smile, this one was different. Neji felt no ulterior motive under her smile.

Temari pat Neji's back and laughed. "Don't worry; I won't be doing those things anymore." Temari said. Neji raised an eyebrow. "What's going on?" Neji suspiciously asked.

"Gaara happened. You'd be surprised on how persuasive my little brother can be!" Temari laughed. Neji looked over to the red headed teen who returned a glare.

"I think you have a right to know…" Temari began. Neji turned back to Temari, who wasn't even looking at Neji when talking to him.

"I was only playing with you. I know it's a dirty method, but I'm trying to make someone jealous…" Temari said, widening her eyes when she saw someone turn the corner.

"Make someone jealous? Who?" Neji asked, watching Temari ignore his question to run off to a certain male who had just arrived to the school.

"Shikamaru!" Temari called out. Neji dropped his bag in shock. Shikamaru was her target. It was odd for Temari to like a lazy, average student who could care less about anything. Shikamaru was the complete opposite of Neji.

"Tch…that's why girls are so annoying…" Shikamaru complained.

Neji chuckled at the irony and waved to Temari, wishing her luck with her new target.

He walked up to Gaara and nervously looked at him. "Erm…Thanks Gaara, for saving me that day…" Neji said. Gaara merely scoffed, continuing to watch over the students.

Neji felt nervous about going to class. If he were to see Sasuke there, how will he react? What would he say?

Neji bravely opened the door to see Sasuke's seat empty…

Sasuke opened his eyes, still lying in bed. He never felt so tired in his life. Perhaps it was the guilt of kissing his crush… Sasuke turned to look at the clock and widened his eyes. "Shit! I'm late!" He yelled out loud, fumbling over his uniform.

In a way, Sasuke didn't feel like showing his face to Neji. After the hit, Sasuke regretted kissing him. But, it wasn't like he was going to skip school because of such a silly excuse.

Sasuke ran to school, looking at his wrist watch to see how late he was. "Damn it, why didn't I set my alarm?!" He scolded himself.

On his way to the school gates, he saw Gaara walking past the school grounds. "You're late." He said with his usual glare.

"I know, thanks for the other day." Sasuke said while smirking. Gaara faced Sasuke. "What did you do to him after that?" Gaara asked.

Sasuke looked down and put his hand in his pockets, feeling uncomfortable about answering the question.

"Let's just say things got a little awkward between us." Sasuke mumbled. Gaara said nothing, turning his back to Sasuke and walking away.

…_What a weird guy…_Sasuke thought to himself and looked at his watch. "Damn! Now I'm REALLY late!" Sasuke shouted, running to the school entrance.

Quickly changing his shoes and running to the halls, Sasuke's speed was too much for any teachers passing by to scold him.

Seeing his classroom coming closer, Sasuke grinned in relief, when suddenly…

"Whoa!" Someone shouted. Sasuke's speed was hard to slow down. He was taken by surprise and barely dodged and bumped into someone who was carrying a bunch of papers and files.

The papers were luckily stapled and the person Sasuke had bumped into skillfully held the papers so most of it stayed in his arms.

"S-sorry… I-" Sasuke began, but saw that the person he had hit was none other than Neji, the person he wanted to see last.

Neji hadn't realized it was Sasuke either, still in shock of the bump. When he looked up, Neji immediately turned red.

Sasuke had a moment of an inability to speak right away, startled by Neji's first reaction upon seeing Sasuke.

Taking this chance, Neji quickly grabbed his papers and ran down the hall. Sasuke was at a loss for words.

"Hey, if you're late, it's best to come into the class, don't leisurely loiter in the halls." Kakashi nonchalantly said, sticking his masked face out to see what the commotion was.

"Right…" Sasuke said, turning back and walking into the classroom. He was certain Neji was blushing.

Sasuke grinned, feeling as if Neji had confessed to him even when not saying anything.

Neji ran into a room where the student council was filing some papers. He put his papers down and tried to catch his breath.

"Students do not run in the hallways." Neji heard Gaara say. "S-sorry…" Neji apologized.

Gaara silently glared at him and continued his work. Temari snickered and remembered something, standing up from her seat.

"What happened that day after Sasuke pulled you away?" she asked, watching Neji turn beet red.

"N-nothing, it's none of your business!" Neji shouted. Temari lowered her eyelids.

"That's so susp-" she began, but someone had opened the door, interrupting her thoughts.

"Neji, Kakashi forgot to give this in." Shikamaru said, handing in some papers.

"Shikamaru~!" Temari squealed, giving him a hug.

"C-cut it out!" Shikamaru said while blushing, stepping backwards and out the door.

The two left Gaara and Neji in the room alone.

It was an awkward silence and Neji had felt nervous since Gaara was also there when Sasuke pulled him away.

"After he pulled you…" Gaara began, making Neji jump.

"…it turned awkward right?" Gaara asked.

Neji was confused by Gaara's statement.

Seeing this on Neji's face, Gaara explained.

"Sasuke told me that when I asked what happened."

Neji understood now, turning a little pink.

"What happened?" Gaara asked.

Neji looked down and played with the papers. Should he say something?

"Did he confess to you?" Gaara asked.

Neji immediately shot his head up. How did Gaara know?

"That's…not entirely true…"Neji said quietly.

Gaara sighed. "It's fine. I knew from the beginning he liked you though."

"What? How would you know?! Wait a minute, we are both guys!" Neji said.

"He seemed to have liked you despite that. I go around the school most of the time to check on students and often I see him staring at you. Many girls flock around him yet the only person he paid any attention to was you." Gaara explained.

Neji pushed his back to his seat. This was too much for him.

"Why are you so worried?" Gaara asked.

"What?" Neji asked in confusion.

"If it were anyone else, you'd just reject them right? Just like how you rejected Temari right away. Why do you hesitate?" Gaara asked.

Neji stared at Gaara, knowing where he was going with this.

"Isn't it because you like him as well?"

Neji looked back down on his paper, feeling his face getting hotter and his heart beating faster.

"While you think about that, don't cause any trouble avoiding him. Act normal. Now give me those papers. You're probably not going to do them. This is why love is so annoying, it disrupts my work." Gaara said, grabbing Neji's papers and working on them.

Neji thought about it for a while like Gaara said. There was no reason for him to be flustered because of a confession. He had received many confessions in the past, so why was Sasuke's kiss any different?

Still unsure of his own feelings, Neji decided he'd act normal around Sasuke.

"Oh, Neji! Come here for a second!" The principal called out.

"Yes?" Neji asked.

"I approve of this hosting event! With your classmate Sasuke and you, I'm pretty sure we will raise a lot of money!" the principal said.

Neji was in shock, but thanked the principle anyway. Since Gaara took care of the work for him, Neji walked back to the classroom, confidently opening the door and apologizing for interrupting.

After class ended for the day, Neji stood in front of his classmates and held out the letter. "Our principal allowed our event to take place." He announced.

The classroom went wild, cheering in happiness. "Okay, alright, SETTLE DOWN!" Neji shouted, immediately shutting his classmates up.

"To make this fair, we will vote who are the hosts by writing their names on paper and folding it up. I will count the votes and whoever has the most will be the hosts. You only get to vote once! If I count an extra paper in here we are to redo the entire thing and it'll be a waste of time, understand?" Neji explained.

Excited the class began to write their votes down, putting in two boxes (one female votes and one male vote) after folding the paper.

Sasuke finished writing his paper and dropped it in, acting normal and returning to his seat.

Neji thanked the class and left the classroom. Walking past the halls, he noticed students already preparing for the school festival.

Some were beginning to construct billboards while others were running back and forth carrying supplies.

It took a while to count the votes. Some of the handwritings were completely illegible.

It came down to three men and two women. For the men it was Sasuke with the most votes, himself, finally Shikamaru. For the women it was Sakura and Ino.

Neji rubbed his forehead, unhappy with the fact that he had to be a host. The sun had been setting and Neji felt tired. Perhaps it was a good time to go home.

Neji grabbed his papers and walked to the classroom to get his bag. The hallways was a little less crowded than before, seeing as it was already turning evening.

He opened the door to his empty classroom only to see Sasuke sitting on his desk, waiting for him.

"Yo, good work today." He said to Neji.

Neji closed the classroom door and remembered to act normal.

"What is it? It's already this late." Neji said.

Sasuke picked up Neji's bag and handed it to him. "I wanted to tell you something." He said.

Neji grabbed the bag and felt his heart beat faster. He stuffed the papers inside and shut his bag.

"Tell me tomorrow, I'm busy." Neji said, not wanting to be alone with him.

Sasuke grabbed Neji's wrist, stopping him from leaving.

"Just hear me out."

Neji looked at Sasuke's pleading eyes and sighed. "Alright, tell me."

Sasuke close his eyes and took a deep breath. It was a sign of nervousness.

"I want to apologize…for kissing you that day…" Sasuke said.

Neji flinched, remembering that kiss.

"But I don't want you to forget it. You probably know by now but I like you…" Sasuke nervously said. Neji heard Sasuke's voice tremble as he spoke.

"And I want you to understand, you don't have to answer me. Just think about it. Don't avoid me anymore…" He said.

Neji still didn't know his own feelings yet, but he nodded. "Alright, I'm sorry too…I shouldn't have attacked you the way I did back there."

Sasuke jumped off the table and furiously pulled up his shirt. "Damn right! Look! The bruise on my chest hasn't disappeared yet! That hurt like hell, what kind of style was that?!" he yelled.

Neji stared at the bruise and began to laugh. Sasuke pouted, but began to laugh with Neji.

Gaara watched the two from a crack of the door, laughing together in the orange sunset…

**Nothing to say. Review please! 3 ;D**


	9. Chapter 9: Answers

Chapter 9: Answers

Exams were beginning once more a couple of days before the festival. As usual, Sasuke studied very diligently every night to beat Neji. Things were finally feeling normal again.

There were barely any signs of awkwardness between the two whenever they met. Sasuke began to worry Neji might have forgotten the conversation they had not too long ago.

On the day of the exam, Sasuke went to school early to study, heading to the library as the sun peeked out of the horizon.

As expected, Sasuke opened the door to the library to see Neji sitting by the window with a book open in front of him on a desk. He rested his chin on his knee, which was propped up by his bent leg on the chair.

"Good morning…" Sasuke greeted Neji. Neji did not answer, seeming to be lost in his thoughts.

"Hello? Are you asleep?" Sasuke asked, putting his face in front of the dazed teen.

"Huh? Whoa, why are you so close?" Neji asked, backing off a bit. "Well, I said 'Good Morning' but you didn't respond." Sasuke said.

Neji looked back at his books, ignoring Sasuke. "Ah! I still haven't finished this chapter!" Neji frantically said, flipping through the pages. Sasuke raised one eyebrow and sat down, opening his own books.

While reading, Sasuke looked up to see Neji's face, thoroughly looking through the textbook. He liked seeing Neji like this. Even when Neji was dazed, his figure was too perfect.

Soon, classes had begun and the two headed for class. It was a wonderful treat for the girls. Two beautiful teenage boys were walking together down the halls. Even the teachers were having a great time staring.

"Good luck on the exam." Sasuke said to Neji. "Not like I'll be needing it, but thanks." Neji joked, sitting on his seat.

The exam started and the class was quiet, Sasuke knew most of the answers and quickly finished his exam, proudly checking it over.

Time flew past and people begun handing in their exams, including Sasuke. As he returned to his seat, he noticed Neji wasn't moving his pen. Rather, he was staring outside, dazed once more as he was in the library.

"Ahem…Hyūga, are you finished with the exam?" Kakashi asked. "Huh? Oh, right." Neji said, closing his exam book without checking it over and handed it in.

Sasuke stared at Neji make his way back to his seat, baffled that Neji could simply hand in his work just like that.

The day passed and all the exams were done. Sakura sighed and dropped her upper body onto her desk, sighing in relief.

"That was so stressful…" She sighed. "Aw, cheer up Sakura! It's over now! We can focus on the festival!" Ino said, immediately making Sakura smile.

"I can't wait to see Sasuke in a host uniform! I wonder how it's going to look like!" Sakura said.

Sasuke overheard their conversation and wondered about the uniform. Did someone already prepare it for them or was the clothing optional?

Hoping to ask Neji, Sasuke turned around. "Hey, Nej-" Sasuke stopped when he noticed Neji was not in his seat.

Looking around, Sasuke saw no sign of Neji and sighed.

The following day, after the school day passed Gaara posted the exam results with a crowd of people hiding far behind the fearful red head, waiting for him to leave.

As soon as he turned left of the hallway, every student crowded the paper. Sasuke stood in the back, hoping he could see the results from afar.

Failing to see the chart, Sasuke walked into the crowd where the girls immediately made a path for him, squealing in his ears.

This was what Sasuke wanted to avoid. Having no choice, Sasuke finally went through the crowd using his looks.

Sasuke's eyes went straight for number one, hoping to see his name. Sadly, he failed to see his name, however, strangely enough, he did not see Neji's name either.

"Shikamaru got first this time huh? Looks like I lost my streak." Sasuke heard from behind him. Turning around, he saw Neji with a troubled face.

Sasuke was third place and Sakura placed fourth.

"Oh, I got first…" Shikamaru nonchalantly said. Neji turned his head to the tired teen.

"It's rare, you usually don't like studying." Neji said. "Ah, well, I don't study…I just remember these things." Shikamaru lazily explained.

"Shikamaru is just trying to get first place so he can go to the same college as Temari. I guess that's what happens when people date. Love is a strong thing." Choji said, munching on some chips.

"Shikamaru and Temari are dating?" Sasuke asked.

"…Choji, you spoke too much." Shikamaru said uncomfortably.

"Oh, sorry." Choji grinned.

Sasuke jealously stared at Shikamaru and thought about Neji. It has been about a week since he had told Neji to think about it. Where was his answer? Did he really forget?

Sasuke didn't want to ask Neji. It'll bring back the awkward feelings once more. He wondered about who he should ask about this problem.

He then remembered Gaara. He was the only one who knew about Sasuke and Neji anyway.

Sasuke walked to Gaara's classroom and opened the door where the students stared in shock. The class was quiet and Gaara was sitting quietly reading a book.

"Gaara, come here." Sasuke said, moving his index finger to point to his direction.

Looking up from his book, Gaara gave a sigh, walking to the door. "What?" He asked.

Sasuke said nothing and walked out of the doorway, not wanting to attract attention. Gaara followed Sasuke, eyeing the classroom to make sure there was no ruckus.

The two walked to a corner of the school where not many students would walk by.

"Why did you call me here?" Gaara asked.

Disliking the attitude, Sasuke went straight to the point.

"I want to ask you something." Sasuke said. Silence followed.

"… I apologized to Neji about a week ago and told him to think about my confession…" Sasuke explained.

Gaara merely stared at Sasuke.

"…Well, it's been a week since that happened and I think he might have forgotten about it." Sasuke said.

Gaara had no comment on this. He simply pulled Sasuke back to the charts, where the two saw Neji as second place.

"Do you ever see him as second place?" Gaara asked.

Sasuke looked at the charts. Neji's score was one point lower than Shikamaru's score.

"What does this have to do with anything?" Sasuke asked.

"Neji, no matter how smart Shikamaru is, always gets higher than the full score. In the teacher's records, there was not one student who could do that. Why do you think he was unable to receive first place this time and have a grade lower than the highest score?" Gaara asked.

Sasuke remembered that morning where he saw Neji in the library, how he looked when he was lost in his own thoughts.

"Looks like you know now. Neji is seriously thinking about it. Give him time." Gaara said, closing his eyes and leaning to the wall.

Now that Sasuke thought about it, Neji's eyes weren't as alert as they used to be. They were tired and bags were forming below his eyes.

Usually Neji would come to school early to watch the sunrise in the classroom, but that day, Neji was in the library trying to study.

"In the student council…" Gaara began, interrupting Sasuke's thoughts. "…He would start to stare into space, and would either forget what he was doing or writes his paper work incorrectly. It is an inconvenience to me but I can't do anything about that." Gaara said, walking back to his classroom.

Feeling bad for not believing in Neji, Sasuke returned to the classroom where once again, Neji sat in a daze.

"…Neji?" Sasuke called out. There was no response. "Hey!" Sasuke called out again, placing his hand on Neji shoulder.

"What? Oh! Don't sneak up on me like that!" Neji said, startled by Sasuke's presence.

"I called out to you before already." Sasuke said, noticing Neji's inattentiveness.

Neji simply sighed and looked down to his unfinished papers for the student council.

"…Hey, take a walk with me." Sasuke said, hoping to calm Neji's mind.

Neji knew what Sasuke was trying to do, but went along with it anyway. He was too stressed out thinking about it.

The two walked past the many students preparing for the festival. Signs were up and the chairs were stacked up nicely.

Students were hurrying around here and there, which would usually annoy Neji.

"Have you been getting enough sleep lately?" Sasuke asked. Neji nodded, lying to Sasuke.

Sasuke had no idea how to help Neji in this situation. It was something Neji had to do on his own.

They walked towards a student who was putting up a metal sign on top of the classroom door with a ladder. The student had forgotten a nail and quickly used the ladder to prop up the sign as he ran down to grab the nail.

As the two walked closer, Neji clumsily tapped the ladder with his foot as he was walking. The ladder toppled over and the sign began to fall.

"WATCH OUT-" The student cried out after seeing the sign fall. Neji snapped back to reality, but it was already too late to react.

Neji felt a strong pull on his arm, causing him to move out of the way before the sign fell on him.

Sasuke had quickly reacted to Neji's clumsiness and pulled him towards his body, causing Neji fall on top of him.

"Ah, are you alright? That was my fault!" The student said, checking on Sasuke and Neji.

"We're fine." Sasuke said, lying on the floor with Neji sitting on top of him.

This was the best day of the female students' life. One hot teen sitting on another hot teen; their dreams and wishes has been fulfilled.

"S-sorry, I knocked over the ladder." Neji said to the student, not realizing who he was sitting on.

Sasuke had no problem with this, but if this went any further, he wouldn't be able to contain himself.

"Neji…" Sasuke called out. Neji turned his head to the boy on the floor and finally realized who he was sitting on.

"WAH! S-Sorry!" Neji cried out, backing off of Sasuke.

"That's alright." Sasuke said, rubbing his head that hit the floor during the impact.

Neji noticed a drop of blood on the floor and looked up to Sasuke's arm below his elbow. There was a slight scratch and it was bleeding quite heavily.

"Infirmary! Let's go to the infirmary!" Neji said, pulling Sasuke up.

"It doesn't hurt that much…" Sasuke mumbled, but Neji didn't hear him.

It was the first time Sasuke had seen Neji like that. He was clumsy, dazed and making mistakes.

Shizune had given Sasuke a bandage for his arm and confirmed his head was okay, leaving the two in the infirmary to hand in some documents.

"Sorry about that…" Neji apologized once more.

Sasuke waved his arm. "Come on, this little injury is nothing! I used to get wounds bigger than this!" Sasuke said, hoping to make Neji feel better.

Neji already knew Sasuke's intentions, which made him feel more down.

Sasuke sighed and looked out the window. "Did you see that drummer's last concert?" Sasuke asked.

Neji perked his head up. "The security had to hold back the fans!" Neji said.

"I think one of them threw her shoe at the stage haha!" Sasuke laughed.

Neji laughed along with him and as the laughter began to stop, Neji looked at Sasuke's injury.

"You know…I've been thinking about the conversation we had that day…" Neji began.

Sasuke thought he felt his heart stopped. Did Neji finally reach a decision?

Neji began to grow quiet. Sasuke closed his eyes. _Ah…I'm going to be rejected…_

"It's okay Neji…" Sasuke said.

"Eh?"

Sasuke looked down to his hands and continued.

"I know it's not possible. You're originally straight anyway right? I get it. Besides, no one would like it if someone forcefully kisses a person like that right?" Sasuke said.

"Wait…"

Sasuke shook his head. "You don't have to feel guilty, I'm alright. Rejection was inevit-"

Unable to finish his sentence, Sasuke found Neji's lips on his, startling him in the process.

Neji pulled away and looked away in embarrassment. Sasuke was just stunned, sitting there like an idiot.

"S-say something…" Neji said.

"…inevitable…" Sasuke finished his sentence. Neji angrily pulled Sasuke's cheek.

"Ow! Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow!" Sasuke cried.

"That's all you got to say?!" Neji yelled.

"Well it's hard to believe!" Sasuke retorted.

Neji sat back down and pouted, embarrassingly looking to the side.

"Let me hear it." Sasuke said.

"Huh?"

"I want to hear it from your lips. Tell me your answer." Sasuke repeated.

Neji turned red and felt one of Sasuke's hands cupping his cheek and the other on his hand.

Sasuke leaned closer to Neji, waiting for his answer.

"…I like you…"

The orange sun set on the two teens, creating a silhouette in the infirmary of another kiss that burned into their memories.

**A/N: Okay you can love me now :D Just kidding. After 8 Chapters, Sasuke and Neji are finally together! With a little bonus of Shikamaru and Temari! I loved seeing your reviews my wonderful readers! Please continue to review~ ^^**


	10. Chapter 10: Desires

**Viewer's discretion is advised!**

Chapter 10: Desires

The sound of the beating buzzer woke Neji in the early morning. Slamming his noisy alarm clock shut, Neji pulled back his long hair that fell to his face as he sat up.

"Ah… that's right…" Neji mumbled to himself. It was just yesterday he had started to date Sasuke. They promised to go meet up early every morning before going to school early.

Neji opened the curtains to his room, looking at the dark morning. The sun still wasn't up yet. Yawning, the teen walked to the bathroom and washed his face.

The Hyūga family owned one of the biggest houses in the neighborhood. Neji found it annoying that he had to live with his relatives, but he never said so.

Making his way to the door, he heard someone's footsteps towards him. "N-Neji? Where are you going so early in the morning…?" Hinata said, half asleep and barely walking straight.

"That's no concern of yours. Please return to bed, it is getting chilly in the mornings now." Neji said and opened the door, bowing to her before he slid the door shut.

Neji quietly walked up the hill to where Sasuke said to meet him. Although he showed a calm expression, Neji was actually quite nervous, feeling as if his heart would pop out of his chest and run any moment.

The street lights illuminated the dark morning and make the teen uneasy walking uphill.

"Morning!" Neji heard from afar. Sasuke was already waiting for him, casually leaning on a lamp post.

"…Good Morning…" Neji said, hoping he wasn't too obvious. Sasuke held out his hand and thrust it to Neji's direction.

Neji stood there and stared at the hand. "Do I owe you something?" Neji asked.

"No! Arg…just give me your hand." Sasuke irritably said, grabbing Neji's hand. "Is this the first time dating someone?"

"Oh…" Neji embarrassingly said. Sasuke sighed and looked up. "Did you eat yet?" He asked.

"Not yet, I was hoping we'd…" Neji began.

"…get some breakfast together?" Sasuke finished for him. "I was thinking of the same thing." He said, pointing at a nearby 24-hour convenience shop.

The two went into the store and each picked out a bun, reading some magazines of their favorite band and sharing a piece of their breakfasts.

Neji was having fun, and it was odd to him. For his whole life, he thought dating was just another annoying phase in life and if he could, he would avoid it.

Sasuke was enjoying himself as well. There were too many times where he was at the brink of kissing Neji in public.

After the sun began to peek out of the horizon, the two headed for school.

"I wanted to ask you Neji…" Sasuke began, holding on to Neji's hand tightly.

"During the festival, what kind of outfit will we wear?" he asked.

Neji thought about it for a while. "Now that you mention it, we haven't discussed that yet…Choji and the others are already in charge of the food, I guess I'll leave the uniforms to the girls…" he said.

Sasuke frowned. "Why the girls? Can't we ask the guys to help to make it fair?" He asked.

"If you think about it, the girls are the best for these types of jobs. We don't want the boys designing mini-skirts for the girls. They are a bit more mature than the males in our class. I'm sure they'll come up with something appropriate." Neji explained.

Sasuke was impressed with Neji's thinking. No wonder he always received higher than the full score in exams.

The two arrive at the school just as the gates opened, being the first ones to enter the school that day. Sasuke was glad, wanting to use the opportunity to do whatever he wants.

The two entered the classroom and Sasuke close the door behind them, making sure no one would see.

Immediately, Neji knew what Sasuke was up to.

He turned around and as he predicted, Sasuke had pushed him on the teacher's table, holding down one of Neji's hands.

Initially planning to pin down both hands, Sasuke flinched, but continued to aim for a kiss.

Neji made a quick interception between his lips and Sasuke's by pressing Sasuke's lips with his free hand.

All of this happening in a second, the two stopped to grasp the situation.

"Where do you think we are?" Neji quietly asked Sasuke.

"In an empty classroom with no one looking…" Sasuke answered.

Neji grew a little irritated and used his free hand to push Sasuke away with his palm.

"Again…!" Sasuke said, regaining his balance.

"What?" Neji asked.

"That move! That's the same one you used in the alley! What kind of style is that?" Sasuke asked, eager to learn.

Neji hesitated and turned his back to Sasuke. "I can't tell you."

"What? Why not?" Sasuke asked.

"I just can't." Neji said.

Sasuke felt the uncomfortable aura that filled the air suddenly.

Realizing that he made the tension rise, Neji flipped his body and walked over to Sasuke, giving him a peck on the cheek.

"T-that's all you're getting…" He said, growing redder.

Overjoyed, Sasuke completely forgot about the conversation before and hugged the beautiful teen from behind.

"What are you two doing?" They heard from the door.

Their hearts stopped with anxiety. Did a teacher find out about them?

With great fear, they turned around to see Temari and Shikamaru together staring.

"Uh… I can explain…" Neji said, feeling Sasuke's heart beat grow faster on his back.

"If you two want to wrestle, do it in the gym! Neji! You should know that!" Temari said.

The two looked at each other and let go.

"S-sorry Temari. I forgot we were in a classroom." Neji apologized.

It was a stupid excuse, but it saved them for now.

Sasuke changed the subject, turning to attention to the couple in front of them.

"What are the two of you doing so early in the morning?" He sneered, implying indecency.

The two blushed and retorted strongly. "Shut up Uchiha! I'll shave your duck butt hair!" Temari threatened.

"Temari…do you dare threaten the order in this school?" A dark voice said from behind.

"G-Gaara!" Temari seemed to have jumped a little, startled by her brother's presence.

"You didn't forget he was there did you?" Shikamaru asked.

Temari merely scoffed and walked off, leaving the two alone with Gaara.

The red head turned to see the two boys stare at him. Before leaving, Gaara smiled VERY slightly, whispering something Neji couldn't hear.

Neji turned to Sasuke. "What did he say? I swore I saw him smile." Neji said.

"He said congratulations…" Sasuke said.

"He knows? How…" Neji began.

"No idea, this guy seems to have eyes everywhere…" Sasuke said.

The students began to come in, ending their private time alone.

Neji met up with Sakura and a couple of other girls to discuss the designs. Luckily, some of the girls stopped Sakura and Ino from making half naked costumes for males.

The festival seemed to bring everyone's spirits up right after the exams. They were even going to have a school party after the event.

Neji had student council work that evening so Sasuke walked home on his own, watching the street lights turn on for the dark road.

Sasuke went to the convenience store and picked up some firecrackers. He planned on spending time with Neji alone after the festival.

Excited, he walked to the register and paid for the firecrackers and some bread for dinner.

Leaving the convenience store, Sasuke saw a shadow hiding behind the store sign at the corner of his eye.

Hoping it wasn't a stalker, Sasuke quickened his steps. It was no good. He heard footsteps follow after him.

_Not again…_ Sasuke thought, remembering the last time he was stalked by a girl.

It was at his old school where he had to run from this girl. Unable to escape, Sasuke had no choice but to stop and fight her.

It was one of the reasons why he was expelled. Sasuke didn't want another situation like that one again, which is why he learned self-defense and Judo.

Even after all that training Sasuke couldn't seem to shake off this stalker. This one was quick, unlike his previous stalker.

Finally sprinting, Sasuke took a different route, not wanting the stalker to figure out where his home was.

Sasuke was unfamiliar with the road since he had moved in not long ago. He walked right into a secluded park where the street lights flickered.

"Finally you stopped." A sly voice growled. Sasuke turned around to face the stalker.

To his surprise, it wasn't a typical fan girl from school. This was a man with long hair and pale skin.

Sasuke recognized this man. "You're…Orochimaru…The chemistry teacher!" He said.

Orochimaru snickered. "That's right, I've been watching you from afar Sasuke…" he said, slowly walking closer to Sasuke.

Sasuke took a step back. "What do you want from me?" He asked.

"Want?" Orochimaru snickered happily. "That's right, I want SASUKE!"

Sasuke watched Orochimaru quickly run towards him, jumping to the side as a reaction.

This was bad, not only was this person an adult, but he is a man. Sasuke knew this is a difficult situation to get out of.

He cannot hit a teacher mostly because he would be expelled from the school, and that was the last thing Sasuke wanted.

Before Sasuke ran off, Orochimaru grabbed onto his wrist, stopping him from dodging any further.

"Now… be a good boy…" He said, pulling Sasuke to the nearby bushes and pinning down both of his hands.

Sasuke kicked and flailed, but Orochimaru was strangely skilled with defending himself, pushing the teen to the ground and sitting on the kicking legs.

"You don't think I'd come after you without being prepared do you? I learned a couple of self-defense moves myself…" Orochimaru whispered to Sasuke's ears.

Sasuke shivered. He knew what Orochimaru was planning to do. Sasuke felt a tongue slide up his neck.

Disgusted, Sasuke shut his eyes and shouted out loud, hoping someone passing by would hear. "GET OFF YOU PERVERT! I'LL KICK YOUR ASS!"

Orochimaru chuckled. "Calling for help? You ran into this empty place, no one is going to hear—GWAH"

Sasuke felt the grip on his wrists loosen and Orochimaru's body fall off of his own. He opened his eyes and quickly sat up, pushing his body back to a tree.

Sasuke looked up and saw Neji standing in a familiar position. "Temari, give this to the local policeman, I think he'd want to see the video." Neji said, tossing a camera behind him.

Angry, Orochimaru glared at Neji. "…Hyūga… I see your annoying style of fighting was already passed down to you… tell me my boy, how is your father?" Orochimaru sneered as he wiped the blood off of his chin.

Neji widened his eyes in anger and charged towards Orochimaru, quickly overpowering him. Everything happened in a flash, Sasuke couldn't make out the moves Neji made.

The style was odd, but effective. They were similar to the pushes Neji gave to him, but more advanced.

Orochimaru had enough of the wounds inflicted on him and heard the cops. "…I'll come back to you Sasuke…just you wait…" he said, slipping off into the dark after dodging Neji's attacks.

The police arrived too late and Orochimaru had slipped away.

Neji kneeled down to Sasuke. "Are you alright? Sorry for coming to late…" Neji said.

"Hah, you should thank me. Neji was going to blow our cover if I didn't hold him back!" Temari angrily said. She sat down next to Sasuke.

"Orochimaru was being watched by our council members for a long time now because he was a suspicious man. We never got any real evidence of harm. Neji was surprisingly impatient to kick his ass. Even I knew you need to wait for the right timing to attack. Orochimaru is a grown man after all." Temari said.

Sasuke said nothing, rubbing his neck in disgust. Neji saw this and stood up.

"Officers, is it alright if we leave now? It is past night time and it is dangerous for us to be out at this time. I believe our contact information is with you. If you need anything please come to visit our school." Neji said.

Since there was no harm done, the officers nodded and allowed the teens to leave as they investigated.

"Temari, thanks for today, you can go home. I'll be taking Sasuke." Neji said. Temari nodded, realizing how angry Sasuke was.

The two walked in silence, quickly reaching to Neji's house.

"What are we doing here?" Sasuke finally spoke. Neji said nothing and opened the gates to his enormous compound.

When he slid open the door, Hinata was waiting for him. "Neji! You're home! I was…worried?" Hinata said, looking over to the side.

"He's staying over tonight." Neji explained briefly while taking his shoes off.

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"I-I'll prepare some tea!" Hinata said, running off.

"Wait Neji, who said I'd stay over?" Sasuke asked. Neji ignored him and walked to his room. Sasuke sighed and followed.

The two entered Neji's room, which was ridiculously large. Neji closed the door behind him and dropped his bag onto his bed, facing Sasuke.

Neji walked over to Sasuke and placed his hand where Orochimaru licked. Sasuke shivered and looked down.

"I don't get it…I prepared myself for things like this…" Sasuke said, putting his head on Neji's shoulder.

Neji placed his hand over Sasuke's head and began to caress it.

There was a knock on the door. "Neji, the tea is ready." They heard Hinata say. What bad timing.

Neji opened the door and took the tea, nearly slamming the door in Hinata's face.

"…Why don't you take a bath?" Neji said, opening his closet and tossing some clothing to Sasuke.

"It's the weekend anyway. We can stay up late and you don't have to worry about school."

Sasuke looked at the clothing and gave a weak smile. Neji was trying to cheer Sasuke up by having fun.

_I shouldn't make Neji worry…_ Sasuke thought and was going to try and hide his feelings.

Neji lead Sasuke to the bath. When the two arrived, Sasuke nearly dropped his clothing in surprise.

Rather than calling it a bath, it was more of an 'Onsen'. There was an indoor and outdoor bath and each was filled with hot water.

"Well, enjoy." Neji nonchalantly said. Before Neji walked out, Sasuke put an arm around Neji's neck.

"Hold it right there. You're coming in with me." Sasuke said grinning.

"What?! Why?" Neji asked. "I was nearly raped; I don't feel like going alone." Sasuke smiled.

Neji sighed, feeling like his plan for Sasuke to feel better backfired.

"Alright, but I'm not going in the water. I don't have my new clothing. I'll just help you wash you back alright?" Neji sighed.

"Fine."

Sasuke went into the hot water, sighing in relief and quickly washing his neck. It was disgusting how that man licked him.

"How's the temperature?" Neji asked, bringing in some towels.

"It's alright. You sure you won't come in?" Sasuke asked, splashing some water to Neji's direction.

Neji scoffed. "Yes, now stop playing already, the heat will go to your head.

Sasuke got out of the water and sat down, beginning to wash his hair.

"Temari said you were impatient…"Sasuke said to Neji.

"She talks too much…" Neji quietly said.

"You love me that much, don't you?" Sasuke snickered.

Neji poured a bucket of hot water on Sasuke, washing off the bubbles.

"OW! That's hot!" Sasuke complained.

Neji silently began to wash Sasuke's back. Little by little, Neji began to notice how perfect Sasuke's back was.

From the bones to the skin, everything was beautifully perfect.

"Hey… Are you sure you're alright? If you need anything just tell me. I'll try to help." Neji asked Sasuke, pouring some water on Sasuke's back.

Sasuke looked over his shoulder to see Neji's worried face. It was no use hiding his feelings; Neji already knew Sasuke felt uncomfortable. Sasuke turned around and pointed to his neck.

"Lick it."

Neji blushed immediately. "W-What?!"

"You said you'd help right? You already know I feel disgusted. So if you want to 'help' me, lick it." Sasuke said with a straight face.

"Stop taking advantage of the situation!" Neji said, standing up.

Sasuke smirked. "So you knew?"

Neji flinched and hesitated. Was he really going to do something so indecent?

"…Close your eyes…" Neji finally said.

Sasuke gladly closed his eyes, knowing Neji was too embarrassed.

Neji's cold fingers ran up Sasuke's warm neck to where Orochimaru licked.

Neji brought his lips closer and began to lick Sasuke's neck. This brought shivers down Sasuke's spine, remembering the assault.

But, opening his eyes, he didn't see Orochimaru. He saw Neji, relieving him of his fears.

"That's enough now." Sasuke said, drawing his face closer as Neji lifts his head up, kissing the long haired teen.

Neji wasn't expecting a kiss, but he went along with it, as long as it helped Sasuke.

"Alright, you'll catch a cold already…" Neji said, pulling away from Sasuke's arms and tossing him a towel.

Sasuke scoffed and wiped his face, watching Neji leave the bath.

The two ate dinner alone for some reason. Hinata brought two trays of food and took them out for them as well.

Sasuke wondered why Neji wouldn't eat with his family, but wouldn't want to ask. Not yet at least.

After the two ate, they shared their favorite songs by their favorite artist and played video games all night. Midnight was long passed and the two teens were growing tired.

"Time for bed? I'll make the bed warm." Sasuke asked, throwing himself on Neji's bed.

"In your dreams." Neji said, pulling Sasuke's ankles.

Sasuke fell on the floor and folded his arms. "Come on, what kind of couple sleeps separately?!" Sasuke asked.

"Teenage couples." Neji bluntly replied, pulling out a futon. "Now choose." He said.

"…Futon…" Sasuke gave in. "Your bed is two times my bed too…" He grumbled.

"Shut up and sleep." Neji said, turning off the lights and pulling his covers over him.

Sasuke lay still on the floor, staring at the dark ceiling. He then quietly got up and quickly jumped into Neji's bed, hugging him from behind.

"…Hey…" Neji angrily growled under his breath.

"I won't do anything!" Sasuke said.

"Then what's that poking my back?" Neji asked.

"…I can't help that, it's just a reaction…" Sasuke replied.

Neji pushed Sasuke to the opposite of the bed. "If you want to stay on this bed, then stay on that side." He said sternly.

Sasuke sighed. "That's no fun…"

**A/N: …Well Sasuke was almost raped by Orochimaru and Neji turned Sasuke on. You're losing your 'coolness' Sasuke! :o**


	11. Chapter 11: Tension

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews my lovely readers! I'll answer some questions that were asked ;) Firstly, this is a ****drama**** so it won't be ending any time soon! I plan on continuing so don't worry about this fic ending yet. Second. Yes, there will be more of Orochimaru, don't forget, he escaped… I already spoiled it~ Lastly, I do read all the reviews. In fact, I feel like writing right after I see a new review and a bunch of ideas go into my head. So please continue to review because I'll probably update faster! And without further ado, chapter 11!**

Chapter 11: Tension

_Slowly and steadily, a rose drifts from a pair of hands onto the deep clear waters, fading more and more into the distant horizon…_

Neji opens his eyes lazily from his dream feeling oddly hot. Fully opening his eyes, he realized his entire head was wrapped in Sasuke's arms.

Reacting without thinking, Neji pushed the pretty boy off his bed.

"…Good morning to you too Neji…" Sasuke moaned. Neji sat up and pondered for a while.

Sasuke put both arms on the bed, too lazy to stand up. "Did you have a bad dream or something?" Sasuke asked.

Neji shook his head. Dream? What was his dream about again? Neji couldn't remember anything.

"It's still early, you can sleep in. I'm going to shower. It'll be a quick shower since it's right here." Neji said, grabbing some clothes.

"Huh…wait, you have a shower in your room?!" Sasuke asked, finally standing up.

"Yeah, it's a small one though. I wanted you to relax yesterday and you can't relax in such a confined place." Neji sighed, opening the door to the shower.

Sasuke stared at the shower, then fell back into the bed. "Fine, fine…" Sasuke said, waving his hand.

When Neji went inside, Sasuke sat up, covering his face in embarrassment. "Damn, it feels good to be loved." He mumbled.

He then gave a sly grin and quietly tip toed to the showers, opening the door and looked for Neji's clothing.

He found it neatly folded and sitting on the table near the shower door and took it, quietly closing the door.

Sasuke laid Neji's clothes on his pillow and waited for Neji to finish.

Neji stood in the shower, wondering about his dream he had that night. It felt important, but it was fuzzy…

A couple of minutes later Sasuke heard the door slam ferociously. Neji stormed out with only a towel on this waist.

"Damn you…give me my clothes back." Neji growled. Sasuke looked at the wet teen. His long hair was dripping wet and his skin brightly shone in the morning light.

"Come here and I'll give it back." Sasuke said, smiling innocently.

Neji stormed over to Sasuke and held out his hand. Sasuke looked at his lover's body, putting his hand on Neji's abdomen.

"…Hey…" Neji angry said. "Okay, okay, I just wanted to see. You got to see my body last night anyway." Sasuke said while handing back Neji's clothing.

"You asked me to be with you last night, not my problem." He said, snatching the clothing out of Sasuke's hands and storming back to the bathroom.

After Neji dressed himself, the two left the house to eat breakfast. Once again Neji did not eat with his family.

It was strange. Sasuke would do anything to eat with his family once more, but Neji has his family with him, but never interacts with them. It was almost like they were opposites.

"You're spilling…" Neji said. Sasuke snapped back to reality and realized he tipped his drink too far and it spilled all over the table.

"Ah, damn!" Sasuke said, jumping out of his seat. Almost immediately, the female staff ran to the two and helped clean, offering them some freshly baked bread while they were at it.

Neji felt uncomfortable and quickly finished his food, leaving as soon as Sasuke finished. "Those girls don't usually flock around like that…" Neji said annoyingly.

Sasuke was surprised. Even the people in the streets stared as Neji passed by. Neji saw Sasuke's confused expression and sighed.

"I kind of cursed them out when they first flocked around. After that they only watched from afar." Neji said while looking to the side in embarrassment.

Sasuke bursted out laughing, scaring Neji. "W-what?!" Neji asked.

"You're too funny…You don't have to go as far as cursing them out!" Sasuke chuckled, wiping a tear away.

"Whatever, thanks to that I come here more often because the girls aren't annoying me…" Neji said, stopping his tracks.

"By the way, where are we walking to?" Neji asked Sasuke, who had no idea as well.

"Want to come over to my house?" Sasuke asked. Neji remembered the last time he visited Sasuke.

Neji nodded in agreement. He never entered the house after all.

The two arrived at Sasuke's apartment. Neji remembered when he first came here and stayed at the doorstep, trying to get the courage to ring Sasuke's doorbell.

Sasuke took out his keys and opened the door. There was a burst of Sasuke's scent as Neji walked into the house.

"It's not as big and fancy like yours, but enjoy? I'll make some tea." Sasuke said, hurrying to the kitchen.

"Don't bother, we just finished breakfast." Neji said, looking around.

Sasuke had a large window where the scenery was large and beautiful.

"Oh yeah, this is the area where the sun rises! It brightens the room in the morning…" Sasuke said, drifting to his thoughts once more.

_I wish I can show mom and dad this…_ Sasuke thought. Neji looked at Sasuke's expression and changed the subject.

"What's that?" Neji asked, pointing to a small corner.

"Oh, come here." Sasuke said, pulling Neji towards the corner. Looking past the wall, Neji saw a small altar where two photos reside.

Sasuke sat on the floor cushion and took two sticks of incense out, lighting them with a match. He closed his eyes and put his hands together.

"Mom, Dad, meet Neji. He is my lover and he is the only one who can make me happy every day." Sasuke said

"…Every day is a bit too much isn't it?" Neji joked.

Sasuke chuckled and Neji closed his eyes and put his hands together as well.

"Thank you for raising such a wonderful son. If it weren't for him, I'd probably…" Neji stopped and peeked at Sasuke, who was grinning happily.

"…probably would have been able to wear my clothing after my shower this morning…" Neji finished, joking once more.

Sasuke pushed Neji and laughed. "Mom, Dad, I'm doing okay now. So don't worry about me." Sasuke finished and stood up.

"L-let's go to my room. I'll give you a tour." Sasuke said, not wanting the atmosphere to turn bad.

Neji was led to Sasuke's room. It wasn't as big as Neji's but it was sufficient. There was a bed, desk and a closet. All the necessities were there.

Neji noticed a large poster of his favorite band on Sasuke's wall and stared in awe. Chuckling at how cute Neji was, Sasuke opened his closet and pulled out a box.

"Look, I have figurines of them!" Sasuke said, showing Neji some bobble heads and figurines of their favorite band.

Neji laughed at the bobble head, making Sasuke smile, watching Neji's face lighten up.

"How did you get these?" Neji asked. Sasuke stopped smiling.

"…my…brother pulled some strings…" He said. Neji stopped smiling as well. Tension rose and Neji lowered his eyelids.

Something was strange. Something wasn't right with Sasuke's brother. Neji didn't have enough information to make a statement, but he knew something was wrong.

Neji looked over to the living room and changed the subject. "Wii huh? Let's play." Neji said.

Sasuke stopped thinking about his brother and nodded.

After defeating Sasuke in many games, Neji sighed and stopped his moves. "I think I will go back for today. Thanks for letting me come over." He said, returning the remote to Sasuke.

"Are you sure? I can make dinner." Sasuke said, feeling disappointed. Neji looked over his shoulder and smiled.

"I'll do that another day. You'll need to buy some groceries right? Thanks anyway." He said. Sasuke walked Neji to the door and watched him put his shoes on in dissatisfaction.

"I'll text you so don't make that face." Neji said, chuckling at Sasuke's unhappy look.

As Neji turned around, Sasuke leapt down and hugged Neji from the back, wrapping his arms around Neji's neck.

"Sasuke?" Neji asked, startled by this move. Sasuke whispered something into Neji's ear, making his face turn red like a rose.

"Y-Yeah, I love you too." Neji shyly said and ran out the door.

Sasuke watched the door automatically lock, turning to his empty apartment. It was the first time since his parent's death and Itachi's disappearance he had felt so lonely.

The school week passed in a flash. It was Thursday and most of the students were busy preparing; even the teachers were lazy with teaching.

The girls got the chance to make Neji, Sasuke, and Shikamaru strip their top parts of their bodies to measure for the clothing.

Sasuke jealously watched as the girls measured Neji's body. Neji was slightly uncomfortable with their nervousness and blushing faces.

The more daring girls began to measure Sasuke. It was none other than Sakura and Ino, who already designed their clothing, to measure Sasuke.

Temari wouldn't let any girl touch Shikamaru, much to his annoyance. She told off the girls who tried to measure and angrily snatched the measurement tape. Temari quickly measured him and gave the measurements to a disappointed fan.

"Why do you have to be such a nag at these things? They are just measuring…" Shikamaru complained.

"What?! At least I care! You don't even look like you'd have the slightest feeling if a guy were to touch me!" Temari retorted.

Shikamaru clicked his teeth. "It's not like these girls are doing this so they can touch. You need to calm down."

Temari squeezed her measurement tape in her fist and threw it at a girl, storming out of the classroom.

"Geez, what's wrong with women I swear…" Shikamaru mumbled, apologizing to the victim.

Neji and Sasuke looked at each other. Being in between a couple fighting was one of the most awkward feelings.

After the measuring, Shikamaru left the room, not caring about what design the girls made for them.

Sasuke tried to peek at the design, but the girls hid them in their bags. "I can't show you yet! Wait till we finish!" they say, closing their bags tightly.

Neji chuckled and began to leave the room. "Sasuke, let's go. Let them do their work." He said. The girls gazed at Neji, having their heart strings pulled by his kindness.

Sasuke followed Neji out, happily putting his arm around Neji's neck. "Haha, stop it-"

"SHUT UP ALREADY!"

Startled, Neji and Sasuke stopped their tracks. They looked at each other and quietly looked over the corner where the voices were coming from.

Neji kneeled down and Sasuke bent down above Neji to see who it was. It was Temari and Shikamaru continuing their argument from before.

"Enough about how women are bad! If you think girls are so troublesome, why did you agree to date me?!" Temari yelled.

Shikamaru rubbed his ears in annoyance. "To kill time?"

Temari's eyes began to tear up and she wiped them away quickly, keeping a strong face. "I don't care anymore. Do what you want!" She yelled, storming off.

"I don't need you to tell me that, I'm already doing that." Shikamaru said, sighing.

Neji looked up to Sasuke who looked down. This was another awkward situation to be in. Sasuke tapped Neji's shoulder and signaled to leave.

The two ran from the scene and sighed in relief. "Wow, I didn't know their relationship was that bad…" Neji said. Sasuke nodded.

"Just leave them, they'll figure it out what to do." Sasuke said.

Sasuke wanted to eat his words up the next day. It was a day before the festival and Temari was, once again, flirting with Neji.

"S-stop Temari… I told you I am not interested…" Neji sighed, knowing the exact reason why she was doing this.

"Why not? It's not like you're dating anyone." Temari said, placing her hand on Neji's thigh.

Sasuke broke his pen in anger and turned to teach Temari a thing or two. Neji shook his head and stopped Sasuke.

He wanted to shout out that Neji was dating someone, but it'll bring trouble. Sasuke barely held back his anger.

"Oi, Shikamaru, your girlfriend is slobbering all over my-" Sasuke began, nearly revealing his relationship.

"…my good friend…" He finished.

Shikamaru yawned while reading a book. "Not my girlfriend, not my problem." Shikamaru said out loud, letting Temari hear it.

"Neji! Come here!" Temari shouted, pulling Neji to the corner of the classroom and putting her face on his chest.

Sasuke was furious, looking back at Shikamaru because he couldn't do anything.

There, Sasuke saw something that made him smile. Shikamaru's twitching eyebrow.

"…Shikamaru…you're actually really pissed off aren't you?" Sasuke whispered.

"Don't be an idiot." Shikamaru said, standing up and leaving the classroom.

After Shikamaru left, Temari let Neji go and sighed, leaving the classroom herself.

"Why did you not push her away like you do to me?!" Sasuke asked.

"Because my fellow male classmate, Temari is a female. We do not attack females. Trust me; I tried my best to push her away. I don't like her touching me anymore than you do.

Sasuke looked down. Neji was right after all.

Neji looked at Sasuke's face, then looked up, then sighed.

"Let's go." He said to Sasuke, who merely followed behind. Neji walked with Sasuke the street where they first went to a café together.

"What are we doing here?" Sasuke asked Neji. Saying nothing, Neji simply made a right turn to a dark corner with Sasuke following.

Right after Sasuke turned, he found Neji's lips on his.

"…Don't be so angry, alright?" Neji said, blushing slightly.

Sasuke's eyes were still widen with surprise, but nodded.

"Good, let's go home." Neji said, leaving the corner and walking to the empty neighborhood.

Neji looked around and because the streets were empty, he held onto Sasuke's hand.

Startled, Sasuke stopped walking and stared at the hands.

"W-what?" Neji asked. Too content with this action, Sasuke said nothing and grinned, gripping Neji's hand tightly.

After a while, Neji and Sasuke walked past Neji's street, confusing Sasuke. "Isn't your house this way? We should part now right?" he asked.

Neji shook his head. "I'll take you home." He simply said and continued to walk. Overjoyed, Sasuke walked hand-in-hand with Neji all the way home.

After dropping Sasuke at this apartment, Neji made his way down the stairs and suddenly stopped his tracks, feeling as if someone was watching from afar.

Neji pulled out his phone and texted Sasuke. "Lock your doors and windows and don't answer them…I'll pick you up tomorrow morning." It said.

Sasuke immediately replied. "Alright, but what's wrong?"

"Just a reminder… good night." Neji said, concluding the texts. He looked around in suspicion, but found nothing and left the area.

The next morning was the morning of the festival. Neji, as promised, went to Sasuke's house and rang the doorbell.

There were footsteps running down and the door unlocking frantically. The door flung opened and Neji saw Sasuke still wearing sleeping clothing.

He was panting and his hair was a mess. Neji chuckled. "Good morning."

"S-sorry, I overslept!" Sasuke said, letting Neji in and running back up the stairs to get his uniform.

"Don't rush; I'm in no hurry to be dressed in a uniform!" Neji called out. The house was so quiet and empty as Neji walked in.

Sasuke fumbled with his uniform and walked down the stairs, disheveled and half asleep.

"Alright, let's go." Sasuke said. Neji calmly walked towards Sasuke and put his hand on Sasuke's head.

"Don't rush I said. Your hair is still a mess." He said, flattening the bed head.

Sasuke blushed and looked away. "Thanks."

"What about breakfast?" Neji asked. "Ah, I should buy mine. Did you eat?" Sasuke replied.

"Not yet, I was planning to buy some too." Neji said.

Perfect, Sasuke got to have a nice date before school. He happily agreed and energetically walked out.

Neji on the other hand, always felt uneasy when coming to Sasuke's house. Shaking it off, Neji followed Sasuke to the convenience store.

The two went to school and already saw students setting things up early. They went to the classroom and as expected, the girls were waiting for them.

However, to their surprise, Sakura and Ino were wearing unbelievably skin bearing uniforms.

They made a sexy pose and twirled to show the boys. "Do you like it?" Sakura asked.

"I thought you'd be against this…" Neji said, looking at the inappropriate uniforms.

The female uniform was a short maid dress that reached three inches below where the thighs began. The stockings were long and had holes where the dress ended. Lastly, their breasts were half out, luckily covered by the uniform.

"Well, we had a deal with the boys." Sakura said.

"And here's one more! She wasn't in our class but a lot of boys recommended her!" Ino said, opening the door.

It was revealed that Hinata was wearing the same uniform, shyly trying to cover her overly large breasts.

Neji put his hand over Sasuke's eyes in disgust. "Why would you agree to this?"

"Because if we wore this, you'd have to wear THIS!" Sakura said, pulling out the male uniform.

The male uniform was literally topless, only having a small vest that wouldn't even close. The pants were leathery and tight, having holes here and there. The design and color was the same as the female.

Neji dropped his bag in shock. "Is this allowed?!" He asked.

"The principal approved! As long as it raises money she said!" Ino said, holding up a paper.

"Only rule is you cannot touch the host." Sakura explained.

Neji sighed. The only reason why the principal wants money is so that she can take on other schools and bet on a sports team, usually losing if she bets.

Just then, a bunch of the class boys crowded the front door.

"Please guys! Wear it! Those girls said they'll wear this type of clothing if you wore that! Just think of it as going to the beach!" a classmate said, allowing others to cheer.

The two pretty boys looked at each other and sighed. "Fine." They both said, grabbing the clothing.

"Alright!" The class cheered.

Neji and Sasuke looked at the clothing, then at each other. They made their way to the changing room and changed into their uniforms.

"This is embarrassing…" Sasuke said.

"Those girls probably gave the boys that idea so they can see us half naked…those boys aren't that smart." Neji said.

Sasuke looked up to Neji and saw his perfect abs, blushing in the process.

"Those girls were probably alright with dressing like that so they can show you their figure too…" Neji sighed.

Sasuke grinned and placed his arm above Neji's head, leaning in on the wall.

"Is that a hint of jealousy I detect?" Sasuke asked. Neji looked away. "Idiot."

"Anyway, let's get going. It's almost time." Sasuke said.

Neji nodded and opened the door. To their surprise, many girls were waiting outside with cameras and video recorders.

They flashed their cameras as if the two young men were stars. The designers of the uniforms had to push back the students and allow the two to pass through.

It took a while before they were able to reach the classroom. The line to the host's room was enormous and business was going smoothly.

Sasuke peeked over to Neji, who was being a gentleman to his customers. Pissed off, he turned to one of the waiters.

"Oi, Naruto, quit staring at Hinata and come here!" Sasuke harshly whispered.

The blond was a little irked, but, hurried over to see what Sasuke needed.

"Where is Shikamaru? Wasn't he one of the hosts?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah, but he called and said he couldn't make it, which was why Hinata filled in for that lazy bastard…" Naruto said, looking over at Hinata's side.

Before Sasuke could wonder, more customers had filled his table. He had no choice but to wait for later to think about it.

Neji was feeling uneasy the entire time he was hosting. It was the same feeling as when he dropped off and picked Sasuke up from his apartment. It was difficult to think about it since he also had many customers.

"Sasuke, it's your break time!" a female student said from afar, causing a loud disappointment call from the customers.

_Finally…_ Sasuke thought, looking over to Neji, who was still doing his best not to be annoyed.

Sasuke was jealous but he couldn't do anything about it. Not wanting to see anymore, he walked into the quiet dressing room and rummaged through his bag for his water bottle.

As he drank his water, two cold arms wrapped around his body, hands placed on his chest.

"I said I'd come back…"

**A/N: Mmm…Lovely cliffhanger isn't it? By the way, I mentioned in my profile that I doodle at times. If you want to, you can check out my DeviantArt because I doodled some SasuNeji scenes there straight from the chapters! There is even a spoiler picture~ If you want to comment, ****do not mention my fanfiction**** on it because I don't want to mix my art with my writings. I wanted to put the art elsewhere separately but I had no time to make a new account. Thanks for understanding! Here is my username since they won't let me put links here.**

**kire-no-koi-chan**


	12. Chapter 12: Dread and Relief

Chapter 12: Dread and Relief

He couldn't take it anymore. Neji couldn't help but feel like something was wrong.

"Sakura, I'm taking a break too!" Neji called out, rushing out the door. "W-wait! You can't just—oh, I'm sorry! He'll be back soon!" Sakura said to Neji's customers frantically.

Neji ran towards the dressing room, stopping when he saw a student standing in front of it. The student was fairly tall and looked a bit older. He wore round glasses and had his hair tied to a pony tail.

"Excuse me; I need to get into the dressing room." Neji said suspiciously. The student smiled, but Neji saw slyness in his eyes.

"For what reason? You are already dressed." He said.

Neji realized it immediately, widening his eyes. "Wearing our uniform doesn't mean you're in our school. You're not a student here, are you?"

A loud bang was heard from the inside of the dressing room before the student could answer Neji. Immediately, Neji bolted for the door.

The student intercepted his hand by grabbing Neji's wrist and gave a soft scoff. "You're sharp. As expected of a Hyūga. That's right, I'm Kabuto, and I'm a college student." He said, pushing Neji's wrist downwards and nearly breaking it.

Neji reacted quickly by using his other hand to punch Kabuto. Another crash was heard in the room.

"SASUKE!" Neji cried out.

Within the room, after Orochimaru had surprised Sasuke with his sly back hug, he had pushed Sasuke to the floor and approached the fallen boy.

Not wanting to repeat the disaster from last time, Sasuke kicked Orochimaru's chin and quickly got back on his feet, escaping to the door.

Unfortunately, Orochimaru recovered fast and forced Sasuke to the door, making the first bang that Neji heard.

Sasuke's head hit the door hard and he winced in pain, feeling his wrists being caught together tightly with Orochimaru's. Orochimaru licked his lip and put his forehead on Sasuke's.

"Shall I knock you out and take you home?" He asked and pulled his head back. Sasuke knew this move. Orochimaru was going to head-butt him on the head.

Sasuke instantly picked up his right leg and kicked Orochimaru once more, sending him to crash into the lockers. This was the second crash Neji heard.

Sasuke heard Neji call out his name and he frantically turned to open the door. He twisted and turned but the door was locked from the outside with a key.

Sasuke's heart sunk as he heard Orochimaru stand once more. "Damn Hyūga, planning to mess with my plans again?!" He moaned and swiftly grabbed Sasuke's neck from behind with his arm, choking him in the process.

The door suddenly banged loudly once. Then once more. The last bang sent the door flying inwards, barely hanging on the hinges.

Neji stood in the doorway, lowering his leg that gave the door a powerful kick to send it flying and demented.

"Hold it right there Hyūga… any closer and…" Orochimaru said, tightening his arm's grip on Sasuke's neck, making him cough.

"That's cowardly!" Neji shouted. Regardless of the insult, Orochimaru looked for his body guard, who was sitting on the floor with his arms tied to his back with some left over rope from the festival and his face full of bruises and blood.

"Heh, you cleaned up quite nicely…" Orochimaru said, bravely walking out with Sasuke as a hostage.

"I'm taking this boy home, so if you won't let me through, you can say goodbye to him now." Orochimaru snickered.

Neji looked at the choking boy and hesitated. Orochimaru slowly backed out of the crowd of people, making sure no one sneaks up behind him.

Sasuke's vision was getting blurry. Was he being used as a hostage? Angry, he was determined not to have the same humiliating result.

Sasuke opened his mouth and dug his teeth into Orochimaru's arm, biting harder and harder. As a natural reaction, Orochimaru yelped in pain and pulled his arm back, releasing Sasuke.

Neji quickly ran as soon as he saw Sasuke open his mouth, catching him right on time when he fell from Orochimaru's arms.

He pulled the coughing Sasuke away and allowed him to catch his breath. The bleeding Orochimaru sprinted to the exit, but was blocked by Sasuke's and Neji's fan girls.

"Hold it right there! How dare you do that to our Sasuke! Don't think you're going to leave just like that!" they shouted, ganging up on Orochimaru.

Neji chuckled. A girl may not be strong enough to hold a grown man down, but together, not even a sumo wrestler can defeat them. And in his opinion, nothing else scares him the most than a mob of angry women.

Sasuke rested his head on Neji's chest, watching the girls beat the crap out of Orochimaru and panting to catch his breath.

Tenten walked up to him and kindly pulled out another rope. "Shall we tie him up?" She asked.

Neji looked at the pleading eyes of Orochimaru and smiled. "Nah, let them have a little more fun. Tie him up afterword." Neji said, caressing Sasuke's head.

Neji thought Sasuke had enough and brought him to the infirmary where Shizune allowed him to lie down.

Sasuke had said nothing so far, still tired and terrified of what just happened. "You did well Sasuke." Neji said to him.

He put his hand on Sasuke's forehead. "Rest now, I'll be here when you wake up." Neji said.

Sasuke held on to Neji's hand and closed his eyes, quickly falling asleep from exhaustion. Neji was smiling, but as soon as Sasuke fell asleep, his smile turned into a frown.

How did Orochimaru get into the school? Why didn't the students recognize him? Moreover, where was Gaara?

It was strange that Gaara would miss those two walking in. Perhaps something happened to him? In any case, he needed to find out where Gaara was.

Neji heard the door slid open and quickly hid his hand that held onto Sasuke's under the blanket.

Tenten entered the infirmary and quietly tiptoed to Neji, whispering her report.

"They took Orochimaru to the police station along with that kid. How's he doing?" She asked.

"He's alright. More importantly, I have a task for you." Neji said. Tenten nodded, accepting the task.

"Those two couldn't have gotten past Gaara. Find out where he went." Neji said. Tenten nodded once more and quickly ran out.

Tenten walked out to the halls and into Gaara's classroom. As expected, he wasn't there. She left the classroom and headed towards the front gate.

Once again, she didn't see Gaara anywhere. Where could he have gone? Tenten walked past the food stands and the crowds of people, looking for that red headed teen.

She then saw Kankuro, Gaara's brother, running past her and out of the school. "Kankuro!" Tenten shouted.

The brunette stopped and turned his face, looking very nervous. "Where is Gaara?" she asked.

Kankuro looked down and grabbed her wrist. "Come with me!" He said.

Tenten was taken to a hospital where Kankuro asked the receptionist for Gaara's room. They were taken to a room where only Kankuro was allowed in.

Tenten saw Shikamaru sitting nearby and ran to him. "What happened?!" Tenten asked.

"…Temari and I were walking back to school after making up…then we saw Gaara lying in a pile of garbage all bloody and bruised." Shikamaru said.

"We called for an ambulance and they brought Gaara in. He's stable now but only family members are allowed in. It seems like he was stabbed with a knife down his back. We don't know who did it yet…" He finished.

Shikamaru then looked up and stared at Tenten. "What happened in school?" he asked, knowing something was wrong.

Tenten explained what happened in school and Shikamaru nodded while analyzing the situation.

"…and so Neji thought it was weird that Gaara wasn't around and asked me to find him." Tenten finished.

Shikamaru hesitated and then stood up. "Neji is pretty sharp for sensing when things go wrong."

"It's a very high chance the culprit is Orochimaru and Kabuto… Gaara wouldn't have been beaten like that so easily. Kabuto probably tricked Gaara into thinking he was a customer or student in the school and lured Gaara out of the school grounds, giving Orochimaru a chance to attack from behind with a knife. Then being unable to move, they beat him unconscious and entered the school…Gaara was a main obstacle if you look at it in their perspective." He explained.

Tenten was speechless at this deduction. Shikamaru shrugged. "Well, it's only a guess though."

"And a very accurate guess indeed!" Someone said from behind. The two peeked over and saw the head of the police force, or Shikamaru's father, Shikaku.

"When Gaara wakes up, we can find out if you're correct. You'd make a fine detective my son!" He said while patting his child's back and trying to cheer the two teens up.

"Orochimaru is locked up now so you don't have to worry about him anymore. Gaara is safe too so Tenten, go back to school and give them the good news."

Tenten smiled in relief and sprinted out of the hospital.

"Energetic girl isn't she? Speaking of girls, I heard you made up with yours." Shikaku said.

Shikamaru turned a little pink and pouted. "That's none of your business old man." He said in response, making his father chuckle.

In the room where Gaara slept, his brother and sister sat next to him and waited for his awakening. The beeping in the room filled their hearts with worry.

Temari held onto her brother's hand and closed her eyes to pray. "…You made up with Shikamaru?"

Temari snapped open her eyes and Kankuro stood up from his chair. "Gaara!"

Gaara's eyes were half opened, but he was awake. He turned his head over to his sister. "Well? How about it?" He asked.

"Heh, he took a walk with me and we talked. He then apologized to me and we spent the morning going on a date." Temari chuckled as tears stream down her face.

"Good, that's the right way to settle a fight." Gaara said.

"Worry about yourself more you idiot." Kankuro said, caressing his brother's forehead.

**A/N: Alright, it's a short chapter because I have exams coming up. A lot of things happened though so take a good grasp of the situation! Wish me luck on my exams! :D**


	13. Chapter 13: Anticipation

**A/N: I am so sorry for not updating. There were finals and I needed to find a job D: I did find one if anyone was wondering ;D Now everything should be stable and I'll reward your patience with two new chapters!**

**Chapter 13: Anticipation**

Tenten headed to school to tell Neji the news. He was utterly baffled by the information and couldn't believe Orochimaru would nearly kill a student.

Tenten left the infirmary and Neji sighed. The incident was over and now they had to recover. What a horrible way to spend the school day festival.

Hours had passed as the sun lowered to the horizon once more. Neji began to feel fatigued but still held on to Sasuke's hand tightly.

Sasuke's eyes slowly opened as he opened his mouth to call out the only person he wanted to see.

"I'm here." Neji said, sprinting from his seat. Sasuke sat up, despite being half asleep.

He rubbed his eyes and smiled at his hand that was still intertwined with Neji's.

"…this is definitely an event everyone will remember…" Sasuke sighed.

Neji nodded. "We didn't even get to take a walk with each other…" he said, finally letting go of Sasuke's hand to look at the police outside.

The festival was cancelled and everyone was packing early. Neji watched in disappointment.

Sasuke thought for a moment, then got out of his bed, locking the door to the infirmary and putting up a sign that said "The Nurse is currently not present."

He then pulled Neji to a nearby bed and pulled the curtains around them, confusing the long haired teen.

Realizing what this meant Neji began to retort but Sasuke merely shushed him.

"Wait-" Neji began but Sasuke stopped him with a small kiss on the lips.

A small kiss turned into a deeper one as Sasuke successfully opened Neji's mouth to explore. This was the first time Neji was making out with someone. He didn't know what to do and pushed Sasuke in embarrassment.

Neji looked at Sasuke's pleading eyes and allowed him to kiss him once more. The two broke the kiss naturally as Sasuke reached for Neji's neck and tilted his head for another kiss.

"Sorry to interrupt you two, but Gaara is stable now. He's awake with his siblings."

Sasuke and Neji jumped from their spot and looked to where the voice was coming from. Tenten's head poked out from the curtains Sasuke had pulled over.

"What are you-How did you get in here?!" Neji asked, stumbling over his own words. Tenten nonchalantly pulled up a couple of screwdrivers and pins.

"I have a way with locks. Got it from my dad. Tools run in my family after all." Tenten bragged.

Neji and Sasuke looked at each other as if they were kids stealing cookies from the Cookie jar. Tenten giggled.

"It's alright. I already knew." She said.

"You...knew?" Neji asked in disbelief. "Yes yes, you might want to act less attached in public if you don't want anyone to find out. I won't say anything so let's go! Gaara wanted to see you!" Tenten said, opening the curtains.

Sasuke and Neji looked at each other once more, then followed Tenten to the hospital. On the way the students were seen sadly packing up. It was an unfortunate event that affected their wonderful school event.

Tsunade grimly looked out her window. "Shizune." She called out. "Yes?"

"Prepare another event in the near future. That bastard won't destroy my school's spirit so easily." She threateningly, immediately scaring Shizune.

"But...isn't that your job?"

Tsunade hesitated, then pushed Shizune out of her office.

"I'M COUNTING ON YOU! GOOD BYE! HAHAHA" She called out as the disappointed school nurse falls to her knees. She was yet again given a job that wasn't hers to begin with.

Neji and Sasuke had reached to the hospital where Gaara was kept in. Neji proceeded to his room while Sasuke waited outside.

Neji approached the sleeping Gaara and looked at his siblings whose faces were filled with worry. Gaara's eyes snapped open, sensing Neji was nearby.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Neji asked, unsure of what to say.

"Never mind that." Gaara said, making Neji force a nervous laugh.

"You owe me. Protect the school." Gaara said to Neji.

"Why me?" Neji asked, feeling burdened.

"You have your family's style of fighting. No one will win against you." Gaara said.

Neji hesitated. "I don't want to fight. And I especially don't want to use my family style. I will protect the school without physical action if possible." Neji said sternly.

Gaara gave it some thought and accepted it, vowing to come back before Neji ruins the order within the school.

Neji left the room and Temari spoke up. "He doesn't need to fight you know." She said. "No, but when the school finds out that I'm not there, fighting will be inevitable."

Neji and Sasuke finished their visit and were allowed to leave. They went back to the school but their fan club insisted on cleaning up and wanted the two to rest. Sasuke and Neji had no choice but to head home.

"Crazy day isn't it?" Neji sighed. Sasuke nodded. "Just how many people know about us?" Sasuke asked, worried about what happened with Tenten.

"I don't think people are that sharp. Tenten is a smart girl too. But we should go on the safe side and not interact too much during school." Neji said after thinking for a while.

Sasuke agreed as they reached the curb where they usually separate.

"Wait." Sasuke said before Neji headed home. "Stay at my place this time." Sasuke said while looking determined to have Neji over. Neji hesitated.

What if they go further than a simple kiss? Neji's face flushed red after thinking about it but Sasuke wasn't going to let him go home.

"Fine, but just sleeping over..." Neji said nervously. Sasuke frowned but accepted. The two walked to Sasuke's house and brightened the mood up by talking about their favorite band and new games that were coming out.

As the two entered Sasuke's house, Sasuke went straight to the kitchen to cook. "You should be hungry right now. We didn't even eat lunch!" Sasuke said, pouring some tea for Neji. "Besides, I said I'd cook for you right?" Neji chuckled a little.

"Alright. Cook me some good food!" He said. Neji opened the television to watch the news while Sasuke cooked. As expected, news travel fast. The interviewers grabbed a couple of student who were cleaning to talk about the incident.

The girls wouldn't say a thing about the incident. Neji was impressed by how well the girls knew what to say. Just then his phone rang. He lowered the television volume and picked up. Sasuke was frying some chicken while overhearing Neji.

"Hello. Yes. I'm staying over at a friend's house...you don't need to know who it is; it's none of your business. Yes. Alright... Hello. I just told Hinata so you may ask her. I won't be coming home. Tomorrow morning. I can walk home by myself. I am not 5. Fine. Good night." Neji pressed off and tossed his phone to the side.

Sasuke heard it all but decided not to say anything. Why was Neji so angry when his family was only worried about him? If it were up to Sasuke, he'd be thankful.

Dinner was ready and Neji was simply amazed at the cooking. Everything looked delicious. Sasuke took off his apron and set the chopsticks down.

"Let's eat" he said while smiling. Neji turned red at the natural smile and sat down to eat. Sasuke flipped some channels and a new anime happened to show at that time.

"Oh this looks cool" Neji commented while munching on some vegetables. "You like anime too?" Sasuke asked, happily as he learns something new about Neji.

"Yeah. It's interesting after all. I wonder where these people get all these ideas." Neji explained. Sasuke nods.

"And this one looks pretty cool as well. Death Note huh?" Sasuke said. Neji frowned at the television. "I wouldn't do it if I were him. That kind of power is going to go to his head." He said, calmly eating his rice.

The first episode ended and Neji had helped Sasuke wash the dishes after eating. Sasuke saw Neji diligently cleaning at the sink and walked up behind him to give him a hug from the back. Neji was startled and dropped the chopsticks he was holding.

"Wha-what are you doing?" Neji asked cautiously. "Hm? I saw this in a drama and it seems nice." He said, putting his face into Neji's soft and silky hair.

"Uh...I can't...wash the dishes..." Neji said quietly. Sasuke ignored this remark and continued to hug him. "You smell good." He said. Neji didn't know what to do. He felt Sasuke's hands around his waists go lower and lower. He stopped Sasuke and frowned.

"Just...a sleep over right?" He reminded Sasuke. Sasuke's hands fell from Neji's waist. "Alright. Sorry." Sasuke said in disappointment. Neji sighed and continued the dishes. After cleaning, the two played with Sasuke's Wii. It was getting late but the two boys were finally relaxing and having fun.

"I bought a movie not long ago. Want to watch it?" Sasuke asked, holding up a scary movie. Neji hesitated. "I'm not good with those kinds of movies." He said nervously. "Don't worry; I'll be sitting right next to you!" Sasuke said, already excited. Neji shrugged and sat on the floor. As Sasuke put the CD in the player, there was some noise heard from the front door. It sounded like paper rustling.

Sasuke walked to the front and saw a yellow envelope fall from the door where the mail goes through. He quickly picked it up and races out the door. Neji followed curiously. "Wait! Sasuke what are you-"

"This is money! It must be my brother!" Sasuke quickly explained while running across the hall.

As he caught up he pulled the shoulder of this person and realized that it was not his brother who dropped the money, but a woman wearing a thick fur coat and glossy bright red lip stick.

"What?! Don't touch me!" The lady said. Sasuke pulled his hand back immediately after finding out that wasn't his brother. "What the-who are you? Why did you drop this at my house?!" Sasuke asked.

The woman stepped back. "All I did was pay! That Itachi guy said that this was where he accepts his payments!" She said. Sasuke hesitated. "That bastard actually made my home a prostitute cash register?!" Sasuke shouted angrily.

The woman thought for a moment, then slyly smiled. "Hm...He mentioned a brother. Didn't know you'd be so handsome. How about it? Spend one night with me? I won't give you a bad time..." The woman said creeping closer to Sasuke. "And I can pay..." She added.

Before she could creep any closer, Neji pulled Sasuke's collar and glared. "Sorry, we aren't disgusting people like you." He said. Sasuke flinched at the word 'disgusting'.

Did Neji think sex is disgusting? Was that why he pushed Sasuke back all this time? He began to worry a little but focused on the current situation.

"Humph! You look good as well, if only you didn't have that snobby attitude. Whatever. I paid so I have no more business here." She said and left the apartment.

Sasuke's hand shook with anger as he opened the envelope to find a load of money that will last him for about a nearly half a year of rent. Neji put his hand on Sasuke's shoulder.

"I don't want to use this." Sasuke said. Neji thought of an idea. "Why not give it to charity? This way the money will be used for good and not for something like prostitution." Neji said.

Sasuke looked at the money and nodded. The two returned to the apartment with a heavy atmosphere. Sasuke didn't want this. He didn't invite Neji over to mope about problems that aren't his. Sasuke pulled out a blanket and some snacks.

"Let's...ignore what happened." He said to Neji. Neji smiled and nodded. The horror film began and Neji showed Sasuke a side of him that he had never seen before.

Neji was cowering in the blanket hoping the movie would end soon. Sasuke grinned at how cute Neji was. He sat behind Neji and put one leg on each side of him, hugging his lover from the back.

Neji gave a little shout when Sasuke did that, causing Sasuke to roar in laughter. After the movie, it was long past midnight and the two boys were getting tired.

"Futon or bed?" Sasuke asked Neji, presenting him with both his bed and a futon. "Futon, I slept on my own bed the last time." Neji insisted, immediately laying in the futon. Sasuke shrugged and jumped into his bed, turning the lights off.

Neji looked around the dark room and immediately remembered the horror film. He grimaced and turned his body to the wall, shutting his eyes closed.

Fatigue sunk in as Neji fell into deep sleep. His vision went black, then into a familiar scene. It was the school hallways but darker and bloodier.

Neji was having a nightmare. And what's worse, it was a combination of the incident and the horror movie. Sasuke was being pulled to the darkness and eaten alive by Orochimaru and Neji couldn't do anything but stand there.

If he tried to move, he immediately gets into the traditional stance his family always uses and he didn't want that. He cried out Sasuke's name but it was useless, the only person he wanted to protect was now gone.

"SASUKE!" Neji shouted, sitting up from the futon and breaking out in cold sweat.

Sasuke was sitting in front of him with a worried look on his face. "Here." He said as if a teacher was calling him for attendance.

Neji panted and looked around to remember where he was. "S-sorry. I..." His words trailed off from him. He was terrified and his hands were shaking.

"You had a nightmare, calm down." Sasuke said, giving Neji a tight hug. Neji slowly began to breathe normally, nearly falling back asleep in Sasuke's arms.

"Are you alright now?" Sasuke asked, looking at Neji's face, which was still pale and sweaty.

Neji nodded. "Yeah, thanks." He said. Sasuke put his arms down. "So what's the nightmare about?" He asked. Neji was still in a daze. "...Uhm, I forgot." He said simply.

Sasuke laughed quietly. "Well I read in an article that people usually remember 3% of what they dream of." He said and laid on Neji's futon, falling asleep on it.

"Hey..." Neji said, too tired to push him off. Sasuke merely pulled Neji down with him and put on arm over his waist.

"I won't do anything. I'll just be here when you wake up." Sasuke said, repeating Neji's words to him.

Too tired to argue, Neji stared at Sasuke's face as he slept, not wanting to go back to sleep.

He remembered his entire nightmare after all.


	14. Chapter 14: Trust

**Chapter 14: Trust**

Neji couldn't sleep well that night, especially when Sasuke was tightly hugging him from the back. When he finally found a comfortable position to sleep in, he was rudely awakened by his cellphone.

The room was brightened a little by the peeking sunlight as the cellphone continued to ring. Lazily, Neji reached for his phone and opened it to see that it was Hinata once more.

Neji clicked his teeth in annoyance and quickly shut it, not wanting to answer. His phone rang once more and Sasuke was the next to hear it.

"Is that your phone…?" Sasuke mumbled. Neji sat up and finally grabbed his phone to pick it up. "What?" he answered in a scary tone. Sasuke couldn't hear anything, but Neji's attitude was more than enough to figure out who it was.

"I'll come home on my own. Stop calling me." Neji said and closed his phone, sighing.

"Hey…Why are you so angry when your family calls? Aren't they just worried?" Sasuke boldly asked.

Neji said nothing and walked to the bathroom, ignoring Sasuke's question. Too tired to feel annoyed about that, Sasuke laid back down on the futon and stared at his white ceiling. Maybe it was a bit early to ask…

Sasuke stood up after a while to open the door to the bathroom. Neji was washing his face and looked up from the sink, a small part of his hair dripping wet.

This was a turn on for Sasuke but he didn't want to do anything. From his actions, Sasuke had a slight hunch that Neji disliked indecent actions.

He especially did not want to touch Neji after what happened last night. That would pretty much show that he was no different from his older brother. Sasuke held back his urge and allowed Neji to finish and leave.

After Sasuke washed up, Neji was waiting for him on the sofa. His gaze was distant and his mind seemed to be elsewhere.

Neji was thinking about his nightmare. Was it a sign that things weren't going to go well with Sasuke? Or was it a sign that Sasuke was going to go to the same path as his brother into prostitution.

With Sasuke's good looks, he could become rich that way. Neji grimaced at that thought.

"Hungry?" Sasuke asked, breaking Neji from his daydream. Neji hesitated and stood up. The atmosphere was heavy.

"Let's go for a walk." he said.

Neji knew they both have family problems that they couldn't solve on their own. A walk would be nice to cool things down.

The walk was a little awkward but Sasuke still held on to Neji's hand. Sasuke wasn't going to let all this stress ruin this relationship. It was a quiet walk and no one said anything. They were occupied with enough with their thoughts.

"Neji?"

Neji stopped and grimaced at the soft voice, knowing immediately who it was. Sasuke turned and saw Neji's cousin, Hinata.

"…What are you doing here?" Neji asked harshly. Hinata flinched and quietly stuttered. "I was g-going to Naruto's place…to give him some seaweed. We had extra." She said.

Sasuke looked at the box and was shocked. That seaweed was one of the hardest foods to find in this planet and there was even extra?

He knew Neji's family was loaded with money, but to this extent? No wonder Temari went after Neji.

Sasuke looked at Neji's face, who wasn't even impressed. To Neji, a simple box of rare seaweed wasn't that amazing.

What was more amazing to Neji was that Hinata took the long route to Naruto's house. He knew this must have been his uncle's orders for Hinata to take this road and 'coincidentally' meet with him. Neji scoffed and walked ahead, ignoring his cousin.

"Ah, Neji! Wait!" Hinata called out. Neji ignored her once more and continued to walk. Sasuke stood in between them, feeling a little out of place. Hinata then turned to Sasuke.

"Uhm…He has been staying with you right? Please tell him his family is worried about him…Thank you!" Hinata said and ran off.

Sasuke grit his teeth, finally feeling annoyed about this whole situation. Hinata was obviously worried about Neji, why would he treat her so coldly?

He grabbed on to Neji's wrist and gave him a stern look.

"…What…?" Neji asked.

Sasuke took a deep breath and bravely asked his question.

"Why are you ignoring your family? They are obviously worried about you. Even if they call you many times, it's only to check up on you! You seem annoyed and angry but if it were up to me, I would be more than happy to find out they worry!" Sasuke said.

Neji lowered his eyelids and glared at Sasuke. He pulled his hand away from Sasuke's grip and faced him.

Neji loved Sasuke, but he didn't want to mix his family matters with his love life.

"You know nothing about my 'family'. My actions and attitude towards them have nothing to do with you." Neji replied.

Sasuke flinched. He was right…but in the end, Sasuke couldn't understand why.

"Then why can't you tell me? Aren't we dating?" Sasuke asked.

Neji stared at Sasuke and closed his eyes. "I have to tell you everything just because we are dating? We only started to date for a couple of weeks. I don't think I have to tell you everything." He said.

"I told you everything! About all my family! Because we are dating and because I trust you!" Sasuke stopped for a little to think. Sasuke trusted Neji…but did Neji feel the same? Was it only Sasuke feeling this way?

Sasuke felt more annoyed at that thought and decided to ask. "Do you not trust me?"

Neji hesitated.

"You're right. I have never dated anyone before, but I have read about this. There is no relationship without trust is there?" Neji asked Sasuke.

Neji hated people who pried their way into his personal matters. More importantly, even if he trusted Sasuke, he couldn't tell him what happened with his family. For now, this decision is the best choice…

Sasuke didn't like where this was going. Neji turned his heels with his back facing Sasuke.

"We're done. I'm breaking up with you."

**A/N: Oh, you guys must hate me right now LOL I disappear for more than three months and I leave you with the worst scenario! Sorry this chapter was short, but a breakup is quick isn't it?**


End file.
